A new study reported in Cancer Research shows that a common diabetes drug, metformin, kills human tumor cells in mice that lack p53, a key regulatory gene. In more than half of all human cancers, the p53 gene has been lost. However, scientists have not been able to figure out how to compensate for this loss yet. Unlike a genetic mutation that changes the function of gene that can then be targeted with a drug, the loss of a gene also means the loss of a target.
Metformin activates AMP-activated protein kinase which affects p53 function. Two earlier observational studies have shown that diabetics who take metformin have a lower rate of cancer incidence and mortality than other diabetics. According to the researchers, if preclinical trials continue to be promising, metformin could be used as a cancer therapy quickly as it is already approved by the FDA for use in humans.
