The results of a number of long-term, large-scale surveys have found that the treatment of Type-2 diabetes with metformin over a long period reduces the risk of developing cancers often associated with diabetes.
Diabetes has been associated with an increased risk of developing breast, liver and pancreatic cancer; although the new research appearing in PLoS One shows that population studies found that those patients taking metformin had a reduced risk of developing these cancers. Metformin acts on these cancers by dramatically reducing the growth of breast tumours.
The authors write that “…metformin seems to dramatically affect how estrogen and endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause the pre-existing breast cancers to grow.” The authors propose that further research is needed to assess the impact of metformin on pancreatic and liver cancer.
