Use of metformin and survival of patients with high‐grade glioma
Abstract
High‐grade glioma (HGG) is associated with poor prognosis. Drug repurposing evolves as new modality to improve standard therapy. The antidiabetic drug metformin has been found to inhibit glioma cell growth in vitro and in vivo. The aim of the present retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the survival of patients with HGG with or without treatment with metformin, based on a large cohort of a cancer registry. The analysis included 1,093 patients with HGG diagnosed between 1998 and 2013 from the population‐based clinical cancer registry Regensburg (Germany), which covers 2.1 Mio inhabitants and 98% of all cancer diagnoses. We performed multivariable adjusted Cox‐regression analyses. Hazard Ratios (HRs) with 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) for overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS) of patients with HGG with or without treatment with metformin were obtained. Use of metformin was associated with a significantly better overall and progression‐free survival of patients with WHO grade III glioma (HR for OS = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.11–0.81, HR for PFS = 0.29; 95% CI = 0.11–0.78), while there were no significant relations with OS (HR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.57–1.20) or PFS (HR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.59–1.22) in patients with WHO grade IV glioma. In conclusion, use of metformin is associated with better overall and progression‐free survival of patients with WHO grade III. Possible underlying mechanisms include the higher prevalence of IDH mutations in WHO grade III glioma, which…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 1,093 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Metformin as an adjuvant in breast cancer treatment
- Metformin Lysosomal Targeting: A Novel Aspect to Be Investigated for Metformin Repurposing in Neurodegenerative Diseases?
- Aberrant HSF1 signaling activation underlies metformin amelioration of myocardial infarction in mice
- Metformin induces ZFP36 by mTORC1 inhibition in cervical cancer-derived cell lines
- Protein Interaction Network for Identifying Vascular Response of Metformin (Oral Antidiabetic)
- Preventing Long COVID With Metformin
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.