Research on Lunch Cancer Prevention

Metformin may help prevent tobacco-induced lung cancer.
The Los Angeles Times (9/2, Maugh) reports, "A growing body of evidence suggests that the widely used diabetes drug metformin can reduce the risk of cancer." Indeed, "there is not yet enough evidence to recommend using the drug routinely for cancer prevention, but the evidence is strong enough that physicians and patients considering drug therapy for type 2 diabetes might want to lean toward metformin because of its ancillary effects," researchers at the National Cancer Institute maintained. The latest study bolstering that recommendation involves "tobacco carcinogens" and lung tumors.
Through their work with mice, investigators noted that "metformin was associated with a substantial reduction (up to 73 percent) in the number of tumors" the rodents "developed when they were given a common carcinogen found in tobacco," HealthDay (9/1, Gardner) reported. "Despite the fact that there have been no randomized controlled trials on whether metformin really can prevent cancer, researchers expressed excitement both over this animal study," which is detailed in Cancer Prevention Research.