Metformin News and Research

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Metformin is the active ingredient in a drug used to treat diabetes mellitus (a condition in which the body cannot control the level of sugar in the blood). It is also being studied in the treatment of cancer. It decreases the amount of glucose (a type of sugar) released into the bloodstream from the liver and increases the body’s use of the glucose. Metformin is a type of antidiabetic agent.

MGH study reveals effects of obesity on pancreatic and breast cancer

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators may have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of obesity to promote cancer progression. In their report published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the research team describes finding an association between obesity and an overabundance of a factor called PlGF (placental growth factor) and that PlGF's binding to its receptor VEGFR-1, which is expressed on immune cells within tumors, promotes tumor progression.

12 Feb 2016

Lupin Pharmaceuticals releases Metformin HCl ER Tablets

Pharma Major Lupin Limited announced today that its US subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc., has launched its Metformin HCl ER Tablets, 500 mg and 1000 mg to market a generic equivalent of Santarus Inc.'s Glumetza HCl ER Tablets, 500 mg and 1000 mg.

2 Feb 2016

Diabetes drug fails to show any benefit against pancreatic cancer

A diabetes drug that showed promise in previous studies as an anti-cancer treatment failed to show any benefit in a UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center-led study that used pancreatic cancer tissue samples to test sensitivity to the drug.

20 Jan 2016

MGH researchers find how metformin drug prevents progression of pancreatic cancer

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators may have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of the diabetes drug metformin to inhibit the progression of pancreatic cancer.

17 Jan 2016

Commonly used diabetes drug may have potential to prevent, treat preeclampsia

An article published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reports that a commonly-used drug for the treatment of diabetes, metformin, may have the potential to prevent and treat preeclampsia. Metformin has long been used to treat diabetes in both non-pregnant and pregnant patients, and is considered safe during pregnancy.

22 Dec 2015

Innovative Phase II trial evaluates effectiveness of diabetes medication for lymphoma

Cancer, it could be said, grows like a weed: rapidly, invasively, and with devastating impact on the place it infests. Also like a weed, cancer can't grow on its own — it needs nourishment, which it drains from the human body, just as weeds take nutrients in the soil away from other plants.

13 Dec 2015

Review provides recommendations to improve cancer screening, treatment in people with mental illness

A new report calls attention to cancer in people with mental illness, suggesting that healthcare system and societal factors are just as critical as individual lifestyle factors-- linked to smoking and obesity--that lead to health disparities among this group.

12 Dec 2015

Scientists map out genes that keep cancer cells alive

Scientists have mapped out the genes that keep our cells alive, creating a long-awaited foothold for understanding how our genome works and which genes are crucial in disease like cancer.

26 Nov 2015

Rutgers research reveals mechanism to prevent benign kidney tumor from becoming cancerous

Research from investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey examining the inner workings of a rare non-cancerous (benign) kidney tumor has revealed a mechanism to prevent this type of tumor from becoming cancerous (malignant).

22 Nov 2015

IQWiG finds no added benefit for insulin degludec/liraglutide in adults with type 2 diabetes

The fixed combination of the two drugs insulin degludec and liraglutide (trade name: Xultophy) has been approved since June 2015 also in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus when oral antidiabetics (OADs) combined with a GLP-1 receptor agonist do not provide adequate glycaemic control. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether this fixed combination offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy (ACT).

19 Nov 2015

Higher insulin levels linked to worse prognosis in advanced breast cancer

Patients with breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastasised) and who have higher insulin levels than normal, but are not diabetic, have a significantly worse prognosis compared with those with normal insulin levels, a researcher will tell the Advanced Breast Cancer Third International Consensus Conference tomorrow (Friday).

5 Nov 2015

Study suggests need for specific treatment options for adolescents with onset type 2 diabetes

New results from the Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Youth study (TODAY) examined predictors of the outcomes in youth with onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) based on early characteristics at diagnosis, and suggests the need for specific criteria for adolescents that are different from those in adults.

5 Nov 2015

Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly announce availability of Synjardy tablets in U.S. pharmacies

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company announced that Synjardy (empagliflozin/metformin hydrochloride) tablets are now available by prescription in pharmacies across the United States.

14 Oct 2015

UVA researchers receive $1.9 million NIH grant to prevent heart failure

Could your heart get hooked on blood sugar? Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine think so, and they will determine if blocking that addiction could prevent enlargement of the heart that can lead to deadly heart failure.

14 Oct 2015

Diabetes drug 'suffocates' pancreatic cancer stem cells, new study finds

A new study shows that pancreatic cancer stem cells (PancSCs) are virtually addicted to oxygen-based metabolism, and could be "suffocated" with a drug already used to treat diabetes.

14 Sep 2015

Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier could potentially be a new drug target to treat diabetes

High blood sugar is a defining characteristic of Type 2 diabetes and the cause of many of the condition's complications, including kidney failure, heart disease, and blindness. Most diabetes medications aim to maintain normal blood sugar (glucose) levels and prevent high blood sugar by controlling insulin.

3 Sep 2015

Common diabetes drug metformin works in gut, not the bloodstream

Although metformin was introduced as a treatment for type 2 diabetes nearly 60 years ago and is now the recommended first-line treatment for newly diagnosed patients, researchers still debate precisely how the drug works.

19 Aug 2015

Intarcia Therapeutics announces positive top-line results from ITCA 650 Phase 3 FREEDOM-2 clinical trial

Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc. today announced positive top-line results from its 52-week Phase 3 FREEDOM-2 clinical trial to determine the comparative efficacy of the company's late-stage investigational candidate ITCA 650 to Merck's Januvia in reducing HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes following a year of treatment.

18 Aug 2015

Study finds no added benefit for insulin degludec and liraglutide in type 2 diabetes

The fixed-ratio combination of the two drugs insulin degludec and liraglutide (trade name: Xultophy) has been approved since September 2014 for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is given as an injection in addition to other blood-glucose lowering drugs when these alone or in combination with basal insulin are insufficient to lower blood glucose levels.

12 Aug 2015

Metformin drug has impact on blood fat levels

Besides affecting the blood sugar levels, the substance Metformin, also has an impact on blood fat levels. This was elucidated by an interdisciplinary team of the German Center for Diabetes Research headed by Dr. Rui Wang-Sattler of the Helmholtz Zentrum München. Especially the harmful LDL cholesterol can be reduced.

6 Aug 2015