Mechanisms of metformin inhibiting cancer invasion and migration

Yong Chang Chen; He Li; Jing Wang

Mechanisms of metformin inhibiting cancer invasion and migration

Am J Transl Res. 2020 Sep 15;12(9):4885-4901. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Yong Chang Chen^{1

2}, He Li¹, Jing Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Gynecologic Oncology Clinical Research Center, Hunan Cancer Hospital, Central South University Changsha 410013, Hunan, China.
² University of South China Hengyang 421001, Hunan, China.

PMID: 33042396
PMCID: PMC7540116

Abstract

Cancer currently ranks among the leading causes of death globally. Cancer invasion and metastasis transform locally grown cancers to a systemic and life-threatening disease, which accounts for the most significant challenge in cancer treatment. Recent studies showed that Metformin, the most commonly used first-line oral drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), could prevent and treat various cancers. Moreover, multiple evidence suggested that metformin inhibited cancer invasion and metastasis, which could improve the prognosis of cancer patients administrated with metformin. To better understand the anti-cancer role of metformin, the present review summarized the potential mechanisms of inhibiting cancer invasion and metastasis by metformin, including AMPK signaling pathway, EMT signaling pathway, epigenetic modification and so on. However, multiple problems remain unresolved and more clinical trials are needed to prove the inhibition of cancer invasion and metastasis by metformin.

Keywords: Metformin; cancer; invasion; migration.

Publication types

Review