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. 2019 Apr 17:11:3295-3313.
doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S200059. eCollection 2019.

The beneficial effects of metformin on cancer prevention and therapy: a comprehensive review of recent advances

Pouya Saraei  1 , Ilia Asadi  1 , Muhammad Azam Kakar  2 , Nasroallah Moradi-Kor  1   3
Affiliations

The beneficial effects of metformin on cancer prevention and therapy: a comprehensive review of recent advances

Pouya Saraei et al. Cancer Manag Res. .

Abstract

Metformin is a widely used drug in today's prescriptions by physicians due to its specific effects in treating and curing type II diabetes. Diabetes is a common disease that may occur throughout human life, and can increase the likelihood of the occurrence of various types of cancer, such as colon, rectum, pancreas and liver cancers, compared to non-diabetic patients. Metformin inhibits mTOR activity by activating ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) and LKB1 (liver kinase B1) and then adenosine monophosphate-activated kinase (AMPK), and thus prevents protein synthesis and cell growth. Metformin can activate p53 by activating AMPK and thereby ultimately stop the cell cycle. Given the potential of metformin in the treatment of cancer, it can be used in radiotherapy, chemotherapy and to improve the response to treatment in androgen derivatives (ADT), and also, according to available evidence, metformin can also be used to prevent various types of cancers. Generally, metformin can: 1) reduce the incidence of cancers, 2) reduce the mortality from cancers, 3) increase the response to treatment in cancer cells when using radiotherapy and chemotherapy, 4) optimize tumor movement and reduce the malignancy, 5) reduce the likelihood of relapse, and 6) reduce the damaging effects of ADT. Therefore, this drug can be used as a complementary therapeutic agent for cancer treatment and prevention. In this review, we have summarized the data from various experimental and clinical studies and highlight the possible potential effects of metformin on cancer therapeutic responses.

Keywords: AMPK pathway; LKB1; mTOR pathway; metformin; prevention and treatment of cancer; radiation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Molecular structure of metformin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overview of the indirect (A) and direct (B) molecular mechanism of metformin.
None
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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