Prostate cancer remains one of the most common cancers affecting men worldwide. Researchers are always on the lookout for new ways to treat the disease, especially options that are safe, accessible, and effective. Recently, a diabetes medication called metformin has caught the attention of oncologists as a potential ally in the fight against prostate cancer.
Why Metformin?
Metformin is a well-known, inexpensive drug used to control blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. Over the years, scientists noticed that people taking metformin tended to have lower rates of certain cancers, sparking curiosity about its potential anti-cancer effects. For prostate cancer, the results have been mixed—some studies suggested a benefit, while others found no strong association.
New Insights from the Latest Research
The most recent studies are starting to reveal who might actually benefit from metformin. According to work from Columbia University, metformin may help slow or even prevent the progression of prostate cancer, but only in tumors that have low levels of a specific protein called NKX3.1. Tumors with low NKX3.1 are more likely to become aggressive, so this is an important group to target.
Metformin appears to work by restoring the cancer-fighting abilities of the mitochondria—tiny structures inside cells that produce energy—which are often lost in these low-NKX3.1 tumors. In lab experiments, metformin prevented prostate cancer from progressing in mice, and in human studies, patients with low-NKX3.1 tumors who took metformin had better survival rates than those who did not.
Side Effects and Broader Impact
One of the best things about metformin is its safety profile. It has been used for decades in people with diabetes, and it is generally well tolerated. Recent large-scale clinical trials, such as STAMPEDE, have also shown that metformin can help reduce some of the unwanted side effects of standard hormone therapy used in advanced prostate cancer, like weight gain and insulin resistance.
So far, however, while patients taking metformin may live a bit longer or have fewer side effects, these differences have not been large enough in clinical trials to be called statistically significant. This means researchers are still working to confirm who will truly benefit from adding metformin to their prostate cancer treatment plan.
Conclusion
While metformin isn’t a miracle drug, it’s a promising option—especially for certain types of prostate cancer. Its safety, low cost, and ability to ease some treatment side effects make it a drug worth watching. Ongoing and future clinical trials will help pinpoint exactly which patients stand to gain the most from this approach.
This research was led by Mark Stein, MD, at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and was published in leading oncology journals. The work was made possible with the support of Columbia’s research teams and long-standing clinical collaborators.
