PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pollak, Michael
TI  - Metformin and Other Biguanides in Oncology: Advancing the Research Agenda
AID  - 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-10-0175
DP  - 2010 Sep 01
TA  - Cancer Prevention Research
PG  - 1060--1065
VI  - 3
IP  - 9
4099  - http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/3/9/1060.short
4100  - http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/3/9/1060.full
SO  - Cancer Prev Res (Phila)2010 Sep 01; 3
AB  - Retrospective studies that may be impractical to confirm prospectively suggest that diabetics treated with metformin have a substantially reduced cancer burden compared with other diabetics. It is unclear if this reflects a chemopreventive effect, an effect on transformed cells, or both. It also remains to be established if these data have relevance to people without diabetes. Laboratory models, however, provide independent impressive evidence for the activity of metformin and other biguanides in both cancer treatment and chemoprevention. Investigations of mechanisms of action of biguanides have revealed considerable complexity and have identified important gaps in knowledge that should be addressed to ensure the optimal design of clinical trials of these agents. Such trials may define important new indications for biguanides in the prevention and/or treatment of many common cancers. Cancer Prev Res; 3(9); 1060–5. ©2010 AACR.