A diabetes drug costing as little as 2p a
tablet could offer a major breakthrough in the treatment of prostate cancer.
Research has shown that the medicine, called
metformin, causes tumors to shrink by slowing the rate at which cancerous cells
grow.
If the results are confirmed in bigger
trials, it raises the possibility that men could be given the cheap, readily
available drug as soon as they are diagnosed.
Nearly 40,000 cases of prostate cancer are
diagnosed every year in the UK and 10,000 men die from it – the equivalent of
more than one an hour.
The risks of developing a tumor increase with
age, and there is a strong genetic element to the disease.
Metformin is widely used on the NHS to treat
patients with type 2 diabetes.
But recent studies highlighting the drug’s
effects against a variety of tumors have generated considerable excitement
among cancer researchers looking for powerful new treatments.
Last year, scientists discovered it could
slash the risk of ovarian cancer by around 40 per cent.
And Cancer Research UK is currently funding a
major five-year study, involving early 5,000 British women with breast cancer,
to see if the drug will stop the disease returning and boost survival rates.
Other research teams around the world are
investigating metformin’s powers against skin, lung and pancreatic cancer, with
promising early results.
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