Diabetes drug could reduce the debilitating side effects of prostate cancer drugs, research shows
Groundbreaking research has found that a commonly used diabetes drug can reduce the debilitating side effects of prostate cancer drugs.
Hormone therapy – which involves taking tablets that limit the production of the male sex hormone testosterone – is one of the most common and effective treatments for prostate cancer.
However, it can also cause weight gain and increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
But the type 2 diabetes drug metformin has been shown to halve weight gain and lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels in patients when taken alongside cancer treatment.
Researchers at centers in the United Kingdom examined the influence of metformin on the hormonal side effects of more than 1,800 men.
A commonly used diabetes drug could reduce the debilitating side effects of prostate cancer drugs, groundbreaking research has found (Stock Image)
Hormone therapy – which involves taking tablets that limit production of the male sex hormone testosterone – is one of the most common and effective treatments for prostate cancer (Stock Image)
Over seven years, the drug – the most popular treatment for type 2 diabetes in Britain – was shown to significantly improve the way bodies process energy from sugars and fats.
By helping the body use insulin more effectively and lowering blood sugar levels, metformin reduces the body’s tendency to store excess glucose as fat.
About 55,000 British men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. In the same period, approximately 12,000 patients die.
One of the most common treatments is hormone therapy, which blocks the production of testosterone, which allows prostate cancer to grow.
Hormone therapy cannot cure the disease, but it can give patients years more life or slow the growth of tumors so that the tumors can be removed in time with radiotherapy or surgery.
Professor Noel Clarke, consultant urologist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, called the latest research a ‘landmark trial’.
“Although hormone therapies are highly effective for prostate cancer, they carry unwanted side effects that negatively impact patients’ health and quality of life,” he said.
‘It is nice to see that a cheap and effective medicine against diabetes can be used in this way.
‘I hope this new use will soon be available on the NHS so that more patients can benefit from it.’