Metformin improves the outcomes in Chinese invasive breast cancer patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Early reports indicate that metformin, a clinical drug administered to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), was found to be associated with a better prognosis of cancer. The objective of this study was retrospectively analyzed the effect of metformin on the outcomes of Chinese breast cancer patients with T2DM. A total of 3757 primary invasive breast cancer patients who underwent surgery from January 2010 to December 2013 were enrolled. According to the medication treatment, all the patients were divided as non-diabetes group, metformin group and insulin group. The follow-up data for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were obtained from 3553 patients (median follow up of 85 months) and estimated with the Kaplan–Meier method followed by a log-rank test. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was applied. The results showed that there was a significant survival difference among non-diabetes group, metformin group and insulin group, 5-year DFS was 85.8%, 96.1%, 73.0%, and 5-year OS was 87.3%, 97.1%, 73.3% respectively (P < 0.05). Prognostic analysis showed metformin was significantly associated with better DFS and OS. Our results suggested that metformin may have a good effect on the survival of invasive breast cancer patients with T2DM.

Experimental Study on Solidification Characteristics of Sessile Urine Droplets on a Horizontal Cold Plate Surface under Natural Convection

“…Clearly, it has a high increase rate and spreads around the globe, especially in rich places, such as South America and Middle East. Although many chemical diabetes detection methods are reported, invasive , and non-invasive type, , exploring a novel, fast, convenient, accurate, and non-invasive type physical method is challenging but meaningful. Results of this study have proved that the solidification characteristics of urine droplet could be used to reflect the compositions in urine.…”

Antidiabetic Drugs in Breast Cancer Patients

“…A recent retrospective cohort study of 3553 patients with breast cancer and DM showed significant survival differences among the non-diabetes group, metformin group, and insulin group; the five-year disease-free survival rate (DFS) was 85.8%, 96.1%, and 73.0%, and the five-year overall survival (OS) was 87.3%, 97.1%, and 73.3%, respectively. This provides a theoretical background for introducing metformin for the treatment of cancer and improving the overall survival rate [56].…”

Metformin: A Narrative Review of Its Potential Benefits for Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer and Dementia

“…A recent Chinese prospective observational study of almost 4000 patients with incident breast cancer showed significant survival differences favoring metformin. In contrast, the use of insulin was associated with decreased survival compared with the non-diabetes group [ 83 ].…”

“…In summary, there is strong observational evidence that metformin may reduce the incidence of breast cancer, in particular estrogen-positive tumors [ 78 , 81 , 86 ]. Additionally, in patients diagnosed with breast cancer, metformin was associated with lower risk of a second breast tumor, recurrence or breast-cancer-related death [ 82 , 83 ]. However, randomized trials in metastatic disease and recurrent breast cancer fail to show a benefit of metformin as adjunctive therapy [ 88 , 89 ].…”