LA Times - Diabetes drug holds hope for lung cancer fight

A popular drug that is used by millions of diabetics around the world significantly decreases tobacco-induced lung tumours in mice, a study published Wednesday found.

Researchers led by Philip Dennis, a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), gave the diabetes drug metformin to mice which had been exposed to a carcinogen derived from nicotine. Mice treated orally with the diabetes drug had 40-to 50-per-cent fewer lung tumours than untreated mice, while those treated by injection had nearly three-quarters fewer tumours, the study published in Cancer Prevention Research said.

Based on the findings in mice, the researchers are considering holding clinical trials of metformin to determine if it could be used to prevent lung cancer in smokers.

Dr Michael Pollak, professor of medicine and oncology at McGill University said the "important laboratory study, together with prior laboratory and epidemiology research, suggest that metformin may be useful in cancer prevention and treatment. "There is new information available about the mechanisms by which this drug, which is based on compounds present in lilac, may be useful for cancer control," Pollak said.