There’s a new study out about a medicine called metformin. You might have heard of metformin.
It’s a drug that some people take to control their diabetes.
But this time, scientists were looking at it for a different reason. They wanted to see if it could help men with a type of cancer called prostate cancer.
What’s the Problem with Prostate Cancer Treatment?
You see, there’s a problem when it comes to treating prostate cancer. The treatment is called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). ADT can sometimes cause something called metabolic syndrome (MS).
MS is not a good thing. It can cause weight gain, increased blood sugar, and other health issues. Also, prostate cancer can sometimes become resistant to ADT, which means the treatment stops working.
What Did They Think Metformin Could Do?
Scientists thought metformin might be able to help. They’ve seen before that it can stop cancer cells from growing, in a roundabout way.
They wanted to see if it could prevent MS from happening in men who were undergoing ADT.
Who Did the Research?
This study had lots of experts from all over. They were from the University of Texas Health Science Center, Northwestern University, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Mays Cancer Center, Audie Murphy VA Hospital, McGill University, and Christus Health.
What Did They Do?
They conducted an experiment, a ‘trial’, as they call it. They had two groups of men, all non-diabetic, who had advanced prostate cancer and were starting ADT.
One group was given metformin, the other was given a placebo, which is like a sugar pill that doesn’t do anything.
Then they watched these men closely for 28 weeks. They checked their blood sugar, weight, waist size, and PSA levels. PSA is a protein that can tell you if the cancer is getting better or worse.
What Were the Results?
At the end of the study, they found that the metformin didn’t make a big difference. Both groups gained weight, and there was no real change in their waist sizes, insulin, or PSA levels.
The amount of men whose PSA levels dropped to a very low level was about the same in both groups.
And another thing. They were checking to see if the metformin was stopping a specific process in the body that helps cancer cells grow, but they didn’t find a clear result.
What’s the Takeaway?
In short, the scientists found that metformin didn’t reduce the risk of MS or change PSA response in men getting ADT for prostate cancer.
But that’s okay. Not every study finds what it sets out to. The important thing is that they’ve learned something.
Now they know what doesn’t work, which means they’re one step closer to finding out what does. This is how science progresses, one experiment at a time.
That’s what’s great about science. It never gives up. And neither should we.
If you care about cancer, please read studies about dry shampoo and cancer risk, and vitamin D supplements strongly reduces cancer death.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing higher intake of dairy foods linked to higher prostate cancer risk.
The study was published in Oncotarget.
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