Skip to main content

Drug for diabetes may help to control lung cancer




Commonly used diabetes drugs such as metformin may help control lung cancer, and may help prevent it, U.S. researchers reported.


Patients who had taken the drugs to control diabetes were much less likely to have lung cancer spread -- which is when it becomes most deadly -- the researchers told a meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians.

Metformin, an older and cheaper drug available generically, had a more powerful effect than newer drugs called
thiazolidinediones, TZDs or glitazones, the researchers said.


scientists said, "we have been able to report less advanced cancer in those who do develop cancer, a decreased frequency of squamous cell and small cell carcinomas, and improved survival, when controlled for stage, in people taking metformin and/or TZDs."

The team reviewed the medical records of 157 lung cancer survivors with diabetes.

Those who had taken either a metformin drug or a TZD were significantly less likely to have advanced lung cancer that had spread -- 20 percent of those who took the drugs had tumors that had spread, versus 42 percent of those who had not.

"The initial trend we have seen is toward metformin being more protective than TZDs," Mazzone said.

TZDs include GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, known generically as rosiglitazone, and rival drug Actos, or pioglitazone, made by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd.

Mazzone said it may be possible one day to use metformin to prevent lung cancer in smokers.

But Dr. David Gutterman, president of the American College of Chest Physicians, said more research would be needed before this could be proposed.

"This new information adds to the growing body of evidence that metformin may help prevent and inhibit the progression of lung cancer," Gutterman said.

Metformin is one of the most widely used drugs for type 2 diabetes, with 41 million prescriptions written in the United States in 2008, the American College of Chest Physicians said in a statement.

In May, researchers reported an inhaled drug called iloprost, approved to treat pulmonary hypertension might also prevent lung cancer.

In April, researchers said a natural supplement derived from food, called myo-inositol, seems to stop the precancerous changes that lead to lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer globally, killing 1.2 million people a year. Only 15 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer are still alive five years later, in part because the disease usually spreads silently for years before it causes clear enough symptoms to be detected.

Early stage lung tumors can often be removed surgically, however.

The World Health Organization estimates 171 million people globally had diabetes in 2000 and predicts that number will nearly double by 2030 to 366 million.

Comments

  1. i have taken this article from a news website. here is the link
    http://www.thenews.com.pk/latest-news/4098.htm

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the sharing. I learn a lot of this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My pleasure. it feels awesome when someone appreciate your work. thanks alot

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Post Your Reply and Give Your Opinion About the Post

Popular posts from this blog

Human Parasites, Types of Parasites, and Classification

Parasite: A parasite is a living organism which gets nutrition and protection from another organism where it lives. Parasites enter into the human body through mouth, skin and genitalia. In this article, we will generally discuss the types and classification of parasites. It is important from an academic point of view. Those parasites are harmful, which derives their nutrition and other benefits from the host and host get nothing in return but suffers from some injury. Types of Parasites Ecto-parasite: An ectoparasite lives outside on the surface of the body of the host. Endo-parasite: An endo-parasite lives inside the body of the host, it lives in the blood, tissues, body cavities, digestive tract or other organs. Temporary parasite: A temporary parasite visits its host for a short period of time. Permanent parasite: Permanent parasite lives its whole life in the host. Facultative parasite: A facultative parasite can live both independently and dependently. It lives in the

How to taper off, wean off beta blocker, atenolol, Propranolol, Metoprolol

Beta blockers include, atenolol (Tenormin), propranolol (Inderal ) and metoprolol (Lopressor) and are used to treat high blood pressure, certain cardiac problems, migraine and few other conditions. People usually take atenolol, propranolol or metoprolol for many years as a treatment of high blood pressure or after having an episode of heart attack . Sometimes, it becomes necessary to withdraw these beta blockers due to their potential side effects that trouble the patients or sometimes doctor wants to change the drug and shift the patient to some other anti-hypertensive medicine. No matter whatever the cause is, whenever, a patient who has been using a beta blocker for a long period of time, and he needs to be stopped from further usage of that beta blocker, must not stop taking it. One should taper off the dose of a beta blocker. Now a question arises how to wean off or taper off a beta blocker? The method of tapering off beta blocker varies from individual to individual. Allow you

Difficulty in standing up from a sitting or squatting position, Causes & Solution

People who feel it difficult to stand up from a sitting or squatting position may have problem in one or more of the following structures. 1. Knee joint 2. Muscles of legs, thighs or buttock 3. Muscles of arms 4. Cerebellum Let’s now explain one by one, what kind of problems in above structures may cause difficulty in standing up from a sitting or squatting position. 1. How do problems in knee joints lead to difficulty in standing up? Knee joint is one of the primary and most affected joint that takes part in standing up. Other joints that take part are hip, ankle, knee, elbow, wrist and shoulder joint. Knee joint gets the most strain , and also knee joint is comparatively less supported. That’s why usually it’s the knee joint that starts to cry first because of arthritis. Knee joint arthritis causes long term knee pain , that makes the movement difficult at knee joint. Arthritis also makes the knee joint stiffer and slower and its range of motion also decreases. All these affects coll