Metformin use correlated with lower risk of cardiometabolic diseases and related mortality among US cancer survivors: evidence from a nationally representative cohort study

Abstract

Background: In the USA, the prolonged effective survival of cancer population has brought significant attention to the rising risk of cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality in this population. This heightened risk underscores the urgent need for research into effective pharmacological interventions for cancer survivors. Notably, metformin, a well-known metabolic regulator with pleiotropic effects, has shown protective effects against cardiometabolic disorders in diabetic individuals. Despite these promising indications, evidence supporting its efficacy in improving cardiometabolic outcomes in cancer survivors remains scarce.

Methods: A prospective cohort was established using a nationally representative sample of cancer survivors enrolled in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), spanning 2003 to 2018. Outcomes were derived from patient interviews, physical examinations, and public-access linked mortality archives up to 2019. The Oxidative Balance Score was utilized to assess participants' levels of oxidative stress. To evaluate the correlations between metformin use and the risk of cardiometabolic diseases and related mortality, survival analysis of cardiometabolic mortality was performed by Cox proportional hazards model, and cross-sectional analysis of cardiometabolic diseases outcomes was performed using logistic regression models. Interaction analyses were conducted to explore the specific pharmacological mechanism of metformin.

Results: Among 3995 cancer survivors (weighted population, 21,671,061, weighted mean [SE] age, 62.62 [0.33] years; 2119 [53.04%] females; 2727 [68.26%] Non-Hispanic White individuals), 448 reported metformin usage. During the follow-up period of up to 17 years (median, 6.42 years), there were 1233 recorded deaths, including 481 deaths from cardiometabolic causes. Multivariable models indicated that metformin use was associated with a lower risk of all-cause (hazard ratio [HR], 0.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.47-0.81) and cardiometabolic (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.44-0.97) mortality compared with metformin nonusers. Metformin use was also correlated with a lower risk of total cardiovascular disease (odds ratio [OR], 0.41; 95% CI, 0.28-0.59), stroke (OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.26-0.74), hypertension (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.14-0.52), and coronary heart disease (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.21-0.78). The observed inverse associations were consistent across subgroup analyses in four specific cancer populations identified as cardiometabolic high-risk groups. Interaction analyses suggested that metformin use as compared to non-use may counter-balance oxidative stress.

Conclusions: In this cohort study involving a nationally representative population of US cancer survivors, metformin use was significantly correlated with a lower risk of cardiometabolic diseases, all-cause mortality, and cardiometabolic mortality.

Keywords: Cancer; Cardio-oncology; Cardiometabolic disease; Metformin; Oxidative stress.

Fig. 1

Flowchart diagram of the screening and enrollment of study participants

Fig. 2

Association of metformin use with the risk of all-cause mortality (A), cardiometabolic mortality (B), and cardiometabolic diseases (C-F) in the overall cohort of cancer survivors and four specific cancer subgroups with high cardiometabolic risk. Metformin nonusers group was defined as the reference. Hazard ratios (depicted by solid symbols) with corresponding 95% CIs (represented by error bars) of metformin use for all-cause mortality (A) and cardiometabolic mortality (B) were estimated using weighted multivariable Cox regression models. Odds ratios (indicated by solid symbols) with corresponding 95% CIs (represented by error bars) of metformin use for the total cardiovascular diseases (C), stroke (D), hypertension (E), and coronary heart disease (F) were estimated using weighted multivariable logistic regression models. Both the multivariable Cox and logistic regression models were adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational level, family poverty income ratio, BMI, smoking status, alcohol use, physical activity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, depression, antihyperlipidemic drug use, antihypertensive drug use, and years since the first cancer diagnosis. HR, Hazard Ratio; OR, Odds Ratio; CI, Confidence interval; CVD, Cardiovascular disease; BMI, body mass index