Margaret has been
studying the effects of metformin on cancer risk. Metformin is used
as a treatment for type 2 diabetes (T2D) but has other effects as
well. It has been found that people with T2D are less likely to develop
various cancers than those on other treatments.
Metformin works
by inhibiting respiration thereby increasing energy requirement which
is detected by AMPK (5'-adenosine monophosphate activated protein
kinase) which acts to inhibit energy requiring actions such as cell
growth and proliferation hence cancer growth is inhibited. There may
be other mechanisms involved in metformin's effects.
Metformin has
been shown to inhibit cancer stem cells which are low-metabolising
and therefore difficult to target using other drugs. There are several
trials underway to test metformin's efficacy and an anti-cancer drug.