Could a common diabetes drug taken by millions prevent cancer? Scientists raise hope of breakthrough
A CHEAP drug taken by millions of people to control diabetes may do more than lower blood sugar.
Metformin, which costs 10p per tablet and is already being used by the NHS, could help protect against blood cancer.
Danish scientists found that diabetics taking the drug were less likely to go on to develop myeloproliferative neoplasms (MNP), a rare type of cancer which starts in the bone marrow.
MNP can also increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, and organ damage.
Metformin has anti-inflammatory effects, which has previously been found to protect against common age-related diseases, including heart disease and cognitive decline.
Daniel Tuyet Kirstensen PhD student at Aalborg University Hospital, said: “We were surprised by the magnitude of the association we saw in the data.
“We saw the strongest effect in people who had taken metformin for more than five years as compared [with] those who had taken the treatment for less than a year.”
Blood cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, with over 41,000 people being diagnosed with it every year.
One in every 16 men and one in every 22 women will develop it at some point, according to Blood Cancer UK.
REDUCE CHANCE OF DISEASE BY 45%
Previous research has found the drug can lower the risk of breast, colon and prostate cancer in people with diabetes.
The latest research, published in the American Society of Hematology, examined how the drug affects other diseases, including MNP.
It involved 3,816 patients who had all been diagnosed with MNP between 2010 and 2018 and 19,080 people who hadn’t.
Around seven per cent of the MPN group had taken metformin before, compared to eight per of the control group.
It found those who had taken the drug for five years were 45 per cent less likely to develop blood cancer than those who hadn’t taken it.
The new findings come from an an “observational” study, where scientists just use records to observe different patterns of behaviour, such as getting blood cancer or not.
Observational studies are easier to do than randomised trials, but are prone to errors, as association doesn’t necessarily prove cause.
Therefore we cannot assume that the Metformin directly reduced blood cancer, the authors told the Sun over email.
Metformin was first used to treat diabetes in the 1950s in France. And started being prescribed in the UK in 1958
The drug is a derivative of guanidine, a compound found in Goat’s Rue, an herbal medicine long used in Europe.#
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition that happens when your blood sugar (glucose) is too high
It develops when your pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin or any at all, or when your body isn’t responding to the effects of insulin properly.
There are 2 main types of diabetes:
- Type 1 diabetes – a lifelong condition where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin
- Type 2 diabetes – where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react to insulin properly
Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1. In the UK, over 90 per cent of all adults with diabetes have type 2.
High blood sugar that develops during pregnancy is known as gestational diabetes. It usually goes away after giving birth.
When to see a doctor
Visit your GP as soon as possible if you experience the main symptoms of diabetes, which include:
- Feeling very thirsty
- Peeing more frequently than usual, particularly at night
- Feeling very tired
- Weight loss and loss of muscle bulk
- Itching around the penis or vagina, or frequent episodes of thrush
- Blurred vision
Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly over weeks or even days.
Weight loss is common in people with type 1 diabetes when it first develops and before it’s treated, but it’s less common in people with type 2 diabetes.
Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising it because the early symptoms tend to be general or there are no symptoms at all.
How can I prevent it?
There are no lifestyle changes you can make to lower your risk of type 1 diabetes.
You can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes through healthy eating, regular exercise and achieving a healthy body weight.
You may be more at risk of type 2 diabetes if you:
- Are living with overweight or obesity
- Do not have a healthy diet
- Have a family history of type 2 diabetes
- Are of Asian, Black African or African Caribbean origin
- Take certain medicines such as steroids for a long time
- Have high blood pressure
- Have had gestational diabetes during pregnancy
Metformin is a medicine used to treat type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes.
It’s also used to help prevent type 2 diabetes if you’re at high risk of developing it.