Evidence Hub

Anticancer Activity of Metformin: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Mohamad Aljofan, Dieter Riethmacher

Future Science OA, 2019

168 citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: . However, the underlying mechanisms of metformin in the treatment of cancer are not fully understood. This systematic review aims to discuss the possible anticancer mechanism of action of metformin. METHOD: A search through different databases was conducted, including Medline and EMBASE. RESULTS: A total of 96 articles were identified of which 56 were removed for duplication and 24 were excluded after reviewing the title and abstract. A total of 12 research articles were included that describe different antiproliferative mechanisms that may contribute to the antineoplastic effects of metformin. CONCLUSION: This analysis discussed the potential anticancer activity of metformin and highlighted the importance of AMPK as a potential target for anticancer therapy.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free