22 April 2005
Could diabetes drug prevent cancer?
A well known drug which is commonly used to treat Type 2 diabetes may prevent
cancer tumours, according to researchers at the University of Dundee.
Preliminary findings have shown that people with Type 2 diabetes who do not have
cancer are more likely to have been taking metformin compared with diabetics with
cancer. They are even more likely to have been taking the drug for longer periods
of time. The results suggest that people with Type 2 diabetes who take metformin
may have a reduced risk of developing cancer of more than 25%.
Two years ago, Professors Dario Alessi and Grahame Hardie in the University's
School of Life Sciences discovered that the enzyme AMPK was the target for the
protein LKB1, which also acts as a tumour suppressor. Because AMPK is the target
enzyme for metformin, this finding led to the hypothesis that metformin might reduce
the risk of cancer. Professor Alessi, together with Professor Andrew Morris, Scotland’s
leading clinician on diabetes, and Dr Josie Evans, an epidemiologist, from the
University’s Medical School, then started an observational study of diabetic patients
with and without cancer to see how many had been treated with metformin. This
research is therefore the result of collaboration between researchers in laboratory,
clinical and community sciences at the University.
A large scale study will get underway soon to verify the results. But the exciting
factor according to Professor Alessi, who with a grant from Scottish-based charity the
Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) came up with the idea that
metformin could work to prevent cancer, is that the drug is already on the market.
This will cut out 10-15 years of drug testing that is usually the timescale with a new
breakthrough. Metformin could then be evaluated as a preventative cancer drug
within the next couple of years.
Professor Andrew Morris treats patients with Type 2 diabetes with the drug metformin.
"Metformin has been used to treat people with Type 2 diabetes in the United Kingdom
since 1957. Despite being the most widely used drug for people with the condition, it is
only recently that we have learnt how it works. The possibility that it may have
beneficial effects beyond diabetes control is very exciting indeed".
The findings require further study. Dr Josie Evans is planning a larger scale observational
study linked to a cancer registration database. "The results are promising, but this is a
preliminary study. We need further concrete evidence and more research; this was only
the first step in our research programme. It is hoped that a more precisely designed study
will provide more reliable evidence of the effect that metformin has on cancer".
Derek Napier, AICR's Chief Executive believes the work demonstrates perfectly how basic
research can lead to a clinical application with the potential to help cancer patients. "Cancer
research is a painstaking business. It starts with a dedicated scientist who has a novel idea
and who has the courage and determination to see it through to a conclusion. Here at the
University of Dundee we have such a scenario, and further studies will prove just how
useful this inexpensive drug, that has proved so effective in treating diabetes, can be in the
fight against cancer".
The study is published on the website of the British Medical Journal.
Note to Editors:
Dundee is established as one of the world's leading research hubs into diabetes. Pioneering
work is carried out by more than 25 research teams in the Faculty of Life Sciences and the
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing at the University of Dundee.
Reflecting the overall emphasis of inter-disciplinarity between basic and clinical research,
these teams are now working together under the newly-launched Dundee Diabetes Research
Centre. This will enable scientists working on different aspects of the disease to work more
closely together and thus increase the chance of developing more effective treatments for
patients.
Many of the scientists working on diabetes research will be moving later this year into
cutting-edge facilities at the £20m Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, which is being
integrated into the world famous Wellcome Trust Biocentre at the University. Over 70 scientists
in the new CIR complex will research the causes of diabetes to identify protein targets for
therapeutic intervention.
The Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) is a totally independent charity based
in St Andrews in Scotland. It has no commercial ties, no links with any particular research
institutions and no commitment to follow any particular line of research. It funds what it
considers to be the best researchers and the most valuable studies, wherever they are in the
world. This innovative approach to funding research has enabled AICR to contribute significantly
to furthering man's understanding of cancer.
Head office Madras House, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9EH, telephone 01334-477910.
By Roddy Isles, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, r.isles@dundee.ac.uk | 
