Metformin reduces prostate cancer risk among men with benign prostatic hyperplasia: A nationwide population‐based cohort study

Abstract

Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) has been associated with prostate cancer prevalent among men after 50 years of age, however, it is unclear whether the antidiabetic drug, metformin, can reduce prostate cancer for men with BPH. The insurance claims data of men aged 50 years or older, with both type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and BPH diagnosed from 1997 to 2007 were analyzed. Individuals were followed up for at least 5 years. We identified 2906 and 2906 patients as the metformin cohort and nonmetformin cohort, respectively. The Cox method analysis showed that the metformin cohort had an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.49‐0.96, P = 0.0298) for prostate cancer, compared to the nonmetformin cohort after controlling for age, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) use, prostate specific antigen, and Charlson comorbidity index. Patients using TCM for BPH (per 6 months) also had an aHR of 0.41 (95% CI = 0.24‐0.69; P = 0.0009). In conclusion, both metformin medication and TCM use could be associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer for men with BPH and diabetes.

Metformin protects against diabetes-induced heart injury and dunning prostate cancer model

“…21,22 Beyond its antidiabetic role, metformin treatment is associated with decreased cancer incidence and as well decreased cancer-related mortality. 23,24…”

Metformin use and long-term risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia: a population-based cohort study

“…with metformin reduced the risk of prostate cancer in men with type 2 diabetes and BPH (adjusted HR of 0.69 (95% CI 0.49, 0.96)) 9 but found a similar effect of traditional Chinese medicine which also points to a non-causal explanation. Thus, this issue remains unsettled.…”

“… 29 Similarly, another systematic review included a comprehensive bias evaluation and concluded that the studies least likely to be affected by bias did not support a causal effect of metformin on cancer risk. 30 A recent Taiwanese study found that treatment with metformin reduced the risk of prostate cancer in men with type 2 diabetes and BPH (adjusted HR of 0.69 (95% CI 0.49, 0.96)) 9 but found a similar effect of traditional Chinese medicine which also points to a non-causal explanation. Thus, this issue remains unsettled.…”

“…5 Metformin is suggested to have various beneficial therapeutic effects. 6 Among men with type 2 diabetes, some observational studies have suggested that use of metformin reduces the risk of prostate cancer, compared with use of other glucose-lowering drugs (GLDs) [7][8][9] while others found no clear association. [10][11][12] A recent study found that metformin inhibits the proliferation of human prostate epithelial cells, 13 and thus may reduce the BPH development as well as development of prostate cancer.…”

Ocorrência de câncer colorretal em pacientes portadores de diabetes mellitus usuários de um serviço de assistência terciária em oncologia

“…Estudos sugerem que a metformina pode estar associada à redução no risco de câncer (DABROWSKI et al, 2017;KIM et al, 2018;KUO et al, 2019;WEN et al, 2019;YAO et al, 2019;YE et al, 2019) e a melhores prognósticos em pacientes com câncer (GUO et al, 2017;LI et al, 2017b;WAN et al, 2018;SHI et al, 2019).…”