Diabetes Drug Likely To Treat Aggressive Breast Cancer

Based on a recent study, the diabetes medicine metformin alters SCC (Stem Cancer Cells) in a manner, enabling a new way of treatment to easily target them.

This new research can boost up treatment of TNBC (Triple-negative Breast Cancer), which is an aggressive form. It has been found that metformin might tackle the TNBC.

TNBC, a hostile form, frequently ends in a low outlook for individuals who get its diagnosis.

Many breast cancer’s types rely on hormones like progesterone and estrogen for their metastasis. Hence, those hormone receptors are targeted for a successful treatment.

Unlike other widespread types of cancers of breast, TNBC don’t have all 3 hormone receptors; the progesterone receptors, estrogen receptors, and HEGFR2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2). These absences of receptors make it difficult for the doctors to aim and treat.

TNBC (Triple-Negative Breast Cancers) constitute around 12% of all the cancers. While, in the U.S., this cancer type is twofold times more expected to appear in black females than their white counterparts.

New researches suggested that cancer SC (Stem Cells) might be a possible target for treating the triple – negative breast cancer. It seems scientists have navigated their way to deteriorate these carcinogenic cells making them more susceptible to treatment.

This remarkable breakthrough in the field of cancer treatment has been done by a group of scientists led by J. Blaydes. Blaydes is a reader in CCB (Cancer Cell Biology) at the Univ. of Southampton, U.K. The team discovered metformin’s capability to alter metabolism of cancer SC, hence rendering them susceptible to a new treatment. These findings were published in the magazine of Carcinogenesis.

Although breast cancer cells rely both on glucose (sugar) and oxygen for producing energy for their metastasis, under adverse conditions, they can also adapt more on sugar than oxygen. Dr. Blaydes and his team treated the cells of breast tumors with low amount of metformin for a prolonged period of 8 weeks or more.

This forced the carcinogenic cells to excessively rely on glucose and they started displaying higher rate of a prt. Called CtBP (C-terminal binding protein). In this way these cells were then targeted by CtBP-inhibiting medicines. Researchers observed that application of metformin to these carcinogenic cells slashed their growth by 76%. This breakthrough has revealed new objectives for treatment of cancerous tumors.