Posted on 04/17/2024 9:42:46 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Metformin is a widely prescribed drug for managing type 2 diabetes. In recent years, indications of its potential anticancer properties have emerged in research. A study has found that metformin activates the body's immune cells. The effect was particularly observed in what are known as dendritic cells, which are the most effective in helping the immune system identify cancer cells as foreign entities.
"Our study found that metformin contributed to the metabolism of dendritic cells so that they became active and enhanced the immune response against cancer cells," says Rita Turpin.
Identifying this effect can help to develop anticancer therapies based on the combined effect of metformin and the mechanisms that activate the immune system.
The researchers investigated the effects of metformin in human breast cancer tissue samples, which contained living cancer cells and immune cells that had infiltrated the cancer tissue. The living tissue cultures used in the study, known as patient-derived explant cultures, show what cancer drugs do to cancer cells and, at the same time, what they do to immune cells that have penetrated the cancer tissue.
"Our work demonstrates that we can learn a lot about how cancer drugs influence tumor-resident immune cells by investigating living patient-derived tumor samples," research group leader Juha Klefström says.
According to Klefström, patient-derived explant cultures can be used to identify drugs that kill cancer cells but leave the immune cells unharmed. Or they can be used to find safe and tolerable drugs, such as metformin, which help immune cells to become active and defend against cancer.
Without breast cancer patients donating tumor samples, such research would not be possible.
"We are truly grateful to all the patients who participated in the study for their invaluable contribution to the promotion of cancer research," Klefström says.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Would berberine do the same?
Hate that stuff. Took it for years. Aftertaste like an industrial floor cleaner. Had to eat a full meal with it or I’d be nauseated for hours. Was never happier than the day when my doctor switched me to injected insulin.
/rant
I took part in a clinical study at Pittsbuurgh’s Hillmann Cancer Hospitaal.
I was diagnosed with malignant metastatic melanoma (aka skin cancer).
The study involved pembrolizumab (keytruda) injections. For the first three months, the pembro was augmented with a dose of METFORMIN, which Merck, the sponsor of the study considered as a “turbo booster” of the pembro.
In my case it seems to have worked - recent CT scans show NO EVIDENCE of the cancerous lesions which appeared early in my liver.
I understand that Jimmy Carter had the same cancer and was also treated with pembro. In his case, the lesions had migrated to his brain. Not so for me, thank God.
But thanks to Merck and Hillman Cancer Center, significant steps in treatment (cure) are being made in immunotherapy, eliminating the need for hideous chemotherapy. My prayer is for similar discoveries to combat other forms of cancer are just around the corner.
And to Democrats who condemn drug companies like Merck and hospitals like Hillman for “price gouging” I say “maybe you don’t appreciate their hard work and exhaustive research efforts, but I sure do, and so does Jimmy Carter.”
So it should help against all cancers, so why specify ‘breast’ in the title..?
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