Health Rounds: Older diabetes drugs appear to slow prostate cancer in small study
A class of older drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes may also help slow the progression of prostate cancer, a small study suggests.
Prostate cancer patients with diabetes who were receiving a class of medications called thiazolidinediones, or TZDs, that target the protein PPAR-gamma, “remained relapse-free during the period we followed them,” study leader Dr. Lukas Kenner of Umea University in Sweden said in a statement. “This is a significant discovery.”
By targeting PPAR-gamma, the drugs help the body use insulin more effectively, reducing blood sugar levels. It has also been reported that PPAR-gamma can contribute to tumor growth and worse outcomes in some types of cancer.
Tracking 69 patients who underwent surgery for localized prostate cancer, including 49 with diabetes, the researchers found that 10 years later, the only ones remaining free of biochemical recurrence – that is, a rise in PSA levels without any other signs or symptoms – were the three with diabetes who had been taking PPAR-gamma-targeting TZDs.
In test tube experiments, researchers saw that the drug pioglitazone, sold as Actos by Takeda Pharmaceuticals (4502.T), opens new tab, not only inhibited prostate cancer cell division and growth but also drove a metabolic reprogramming of the cancer cells, weakening their ability to survive and spread.
“Our findings position pioglitazone and similar metabolic inhibitors at the forefront of emerging therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer,” the researchers concluded in a report published in Molecular Cancer, opens new tab.
However, they noted that larger, long-term studies are needed to fully determine the impact of TZDs “on the development and progression of prostate cancer and patient survival.”
