It helps, but not for everyone
Metformin may be effective in the treatment of breast cancer with missing NISCH protein
Lina Medvedeva, XX2 century, based on the materials of News-Medical: Metformin may be effective in treating breast cancer that lacks Nischarin protein.
Research led by Suresh Alahari, MD, Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at Louisiana State University has shown that metformin, usually prescribed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, can also be effective for the treatment of breast cancer if the tumor does not contain the NISCH protein. The results are published in the Journal of Cancer.
Most of the research on this protein is related to breast cancer. In this study, the laboratory found that a violation of the NISCH gene delays the development of the breast, increases tumor growth and metastases, and also reduces the activation of an enzyme called AMPK.
AMPK plays an important role in metabolism and is considered a therapeutic target in diseases associated with metabolic disorders and even in some oncological diseases. The exact mechanism of action of metformin remains unclear, but it seems to work, at least partially, due to the activation of AMPK.
Professor Alakhari says: "Clinical documentation on reducing the risk of cancer in diabetic patients when taking metformin shows the possibility that such an approach to cancer treatment may be an effective and unrealized therapeutic opportunity."
In this study, it was shown that metformin activates AMPK and has a strong suppressive effect on a tumor that does not express functional NISCH. This suggests that metformin has great therapeutic value for tumors in which NISCH is absent.
"We found that tumor cells without NISCH have less AMPK activity than those with NISCH,– Alakhari notes. – and treatment with metformin activates AMPK more effectively in mice that underwent the NISCH removal procedure – metformin suppressed the growth of tumors in them. All these data taken together show that the destruction of NISCH contributes to the development of breast tumors, AMPK signaling is important for NISCH-mediated suppression of breast tumors, and AMPK activation by metformin suppresses breast tumor growth in mice with no NISCH."
These data have additional clinical significance, since the expression of NISCH is often reduced in breast cancer, especially with triple negative, and is associated with a decrease in long-term survival.
"The fact that the effectiveness of drugs such as metformin is related to the level of expression of NISCH may help determine for which patients it will be useful," adds Alahari. "Thus, the expression of NISCH can serve as a biomarker that helps to make informed decisions, identifying a subgroup of patients most likely to be able to receive a positive effect from AMPK activation therapy."
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