Metformin treatment associated with improved survival in Ovarian Cancer

FDA Highlights by Bruce Sylvester – Women with ovarian cancer and diabetes who took metformin for their diabetes have achieved a better survival rate than patients who did not take it,researchers reported online on December 3, 2012 in Cancer.

Investigatior Sanjeev Kumar, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues compared the survival of 61 patients with ovarian cancer taking metformin and 178 patients who were not taking metformin.

They found that 67% of the metformin users survived after 5 years, compared with 47% of the non-users.

Analysing for body mass index, severity of the cancer, type of chemotherapy and quality of surgery, they also found that metformin users were almost 4 times likelier to survive, compared with non-users.

“Our study demonstrated improved survival in women with ovarian cancer that were taking metformin,” said Dr. Kumar. “The results are encouraging, but as with any retrospective study, many factors cannot be controlled for us to say if there is a direct cause and effect. Rather, this is further human evidence for a potential beneficial effect of a commonly used drug which is relatively safe in humans. These findings should provide impetus for prospective clinical trials in ovarian cancer.”