Your common diabetes drug may impact cancer — here's what new study shows

Diabetes has long been associated with higher cancer risk. But can diabetes medications, which control blood sugar levels and body weight, influence how cancers grow, spread, or slow down?

Researchers are now unravelling how diabetes medications affect immune function, inflammation, and tumour biology, with intriguing but still uncertain implications.

According to Science Daily, a recent review examined how widely used treatments such as metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, and GLP-1 receptor agonists may affect cancer growth by changing how cells multiply, how the immune system responds, and how inflammation develops.

These insights point to possible new treatment strategies while also highlighting how much remains unknown.

Managing blood glucose and body weight remains essential for people with diabetes, but growing evidence suggests these factors alone do not fully explain the increased cancer risk.

This led scientists to explore how diabetes medications might influence cancer, either by reducing risk or, in some cases, "creating unintended effects."

Understanding this connection could help clarify how diabetes treatments fit into cancer prevention and care, though further research is still needed to unravel the underlying biology.

The study, led by researchers at Peking University People's Hospital, moved beyond the traditional focus on blood sugar control and weight management.

Instead, it examined how drugs such as metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, and GLP-1 receptor agonists may influence cancer progression through multiple biological pathways.

The review analysed both laboratory and clinical studies that explore links between diabetes medications and cancer.

The findings added depth to the ongoing discussion about how diabetes treatments can affect cancer outcomes in complex and sometimes unexpected ways.

"These include strengthening anti-cancer immune responses and slowing tumor growth by altering the tumor microenvironment (TME)," the Science Direct report claimed.

It added that Metformin also influenced major cellular pathways such "as AMPK, mTOR, and PI3K/AKT, which help regulate cell growth, cell death, and the formation of new blood vessels."

Other diabetes medications show potential effects as well.

"SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists have been associated with changes in cancer cell growth, reduced inflammation, and increased apoptosis," the report added.

However, their impact is not consistent across all cancers or drugs.

"For instance, metformin has shown encouraging results in lowering the risk of colorectal and liver cancers, while its role in breast cancer remains unclear," the report stated.

The review emphasised that each medication works differently and that more clinical trials are needed to confirm these findings and better understand their role in cancer treatment.

Dr Linong Ji, a leading researcher in this area, was quoted as saying, "While anti-diabetic medications are crucial in managing diabetes, their broader effects on cancer are still not fully understood."

"This review sheds light on the intricate mechanisms through which these drugs may influence cancer progression. However, the evidence is mixed, and we must continue to investigate the long-term impacts of these medications in cancer patients, as well as the potential for developing targeted therapies based on these findings," Dr. Linong Ji said.