Metformin and reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in diabetic patients with chronic liver disease

Abstract

Our study shows that DM2 is an independent risk factor for HCC and pre-exists to HCC occurrence. In DM2 patients with HCC, metformin therapy is associated with a reduced HCC risk and seems to have a protective effect on HCC development.

Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin, Sulfonylurea and Advanced Fibrosis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

“…Compatible with our findings, is the report that anti-diabetic medications also affect the risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma [HCC] [7,[20][21][22]. The use of insulin and sulfonylurea was associated with a 161% and 62% increased risk of HCC respectively, while the use of metformin was associated with 50% reduction in the incidence of HCC incidence [23].…”

Diabetes Mellitus Is Associated with Increased Mortality in Patients Receiving Curative Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…Certain antidiabetic agents, especially metformin, were recently reported to reduce the DM-associated HCC risk in patients with chronic hepatitis [6,[31][32][33][34]. One study based on 135 patients who underwent RFA for early HCC also found metformin to be associated with better survival [35].…”

Cancer Risk Associated with Use of Metformin and Sulfonylurea in Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis

“…Of these, 143 articles were further excluded because they did not satisfy the inclusion criteria. The remaining 17 studies [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] complied with the inclusion criteria and were considered for meta-analysis. The main characteristics of the studies included are reported in Table 1.…”