Metformin, a drug traditionally prescribed for diabetes but recently used in clinical settings as a cancer treatment, shows "great promise" but can have negative consequences in the treatment of some cancer types, researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada said Feb. 28.
"Metformin is a wonder drug, and we are just beginning to understand all its possible benefits," stated Mehrshad Sadria, a PhD candidate in applied mathematics at the university. "Doctors need to examine the value of the drug on a case-by-case basis, because for some cancers and some patient profiles, it may actually have the opposite of the intended effect by protecting tumour cells against stress."
Researchers used computer-simulated models replicating both the drug and the cancerous cells in a virtual environment.
"In clinical settings, drugs can sometimes be prescribed in a trial and error manner," stated Anita Layton, professor of applied mathematics and Canada 150 Research Chair in mathematical biology and medicine at the university. "Our mathematical models help accelerate clinical trials and remove some of the guesswork. What we see with this drug is that it can do a lot of good but needs more study."
Read the full study here.