Metformin use does not increase prostate cancer survival
(HealthDay)—Metformin use in combination with docetaxel chemotherapy does not significantly improve survival in patients with diabetes and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a study published in the April issue of The Journal of Urology.
Michelle J. Mayer, from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, and colleagues used data from several Ontario administrative health care databases to identify men (older than 65 years) diagnosed with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and treated with docetaxel. Patients were stratified into groups based on diabetes status and use of antidiabetic medications to assess the effect of metformin use with docetaxel on survival.
The researchers found that survival curves showed that metformin use with docetaxel did not significantly improve prostate cancer-specific survival or overall survival. Similarly, hazard ratios (HRs) showed no significant effect of metformin use with docetaxel on prostate cancer-specific survival (HR, 0.96) or overall survival (HR, 0.94).
"This study indicates that metformin may not be an effective chemosensitizer for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer," the authors write.
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