ArticleCell death & disease2011
Metformin inhibits melanoma development through autophagy and apoptosis mechanisms.
Article in Cell death & disease, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 167 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
167 citing papers in PubMed, 295 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metformin effects on head and neck squamous carcinoma microenvironment: Window of opportunity trial.The Laryngoscope · 2017Trial
- Metformin use and risk of prostate cancer: results from the REDUCE study.Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2015 · on this mapTrial
- 5-Fluorouracil-based chemotherapy disrupts autophagy flux and protein synthesis in cultured myotubes: a role for mTORC1 signaling.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2026Article
- AI-based digital pathology and spatial proteomics enable precision oncology: A case report of recurrent melanoma in a young patient.NPJ precision oncology · 2026Article
- Article
- Metformin Enhances 2-Aminoethyl Dihydrogen Phosphate-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Apoptosis in Melanoma Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Regulation of autophagy by the p53 family and the implications for cancer therapies.Discover oncology · 2026Review
- Research Progress on the Molecular Mechanism of Metformin Regulating AMPK Signaling Pathway in Inhibiting Liver Cancer.OncoTargets and therapy · 2026Review
- Targeting autophagy and metabolism for ewing sarcoma.Molecular biology reports · 2025Review
- Antitumor Activity of Metformin in Combination with Binimetinib Against Melanoma Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Epilepsy and autophagy modulators: a therapeutic split.Autophagy · 2025Review
- Advances in Targeted Autophagy Modulation Strategies to Treat Cancer and Associated Treatment-Induced Cardiotoxicity.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Investigation of the synergistic effect of metformin and FX11 on PANC-1 cell lines.Biological research · 2025Article
- Metformin and glioma: Targeting metabolic dysregulation for enhanced therapeutic outcomes.Translational oncology · 2025Review
- Metformin inhibits the growth of SCLC cells by inducing autophagy and apoptosis via the suppression of EGFR and AKT signalling.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cancer Stem Cells and the Renin-Angiotensin System in the Tumor Microenvironment of Melanoma: Implications on Current Therapies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Metformin exerted tumoricidal effects on colon cancer tumoroids via the regulation of autophagy pathway.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Comparative in vitro and in silico evaluation of the toxic effects of metformin and/or ascorbic acid, new treatment options in the treatment of Melasma.Toxicology research · 2025Article
- Metformin and its Nanoformulations in Cancer Prevention and Therapy.Current pharmaceutical design · 2025Review
- The synergistic potential of mechanotherapy and sonopermeation to enhance cancer treatment effectiveness.npj biological physics and mechanics · 2025Review
107 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Metformin is the most widely used antidiabetic drug because of its proven efficacy and limited secondary effects. Interestingly, recent studies have reported that metformin can block the growth of different tumor types. Here, we show that metformin exerts antiproliferative effects on melanoma cells, whereas normal human melanocytes are resistant to these metformin-induced effects. To better understand the basis of this antiproliferative effect of metformin in melanoma, we characterized the sequence of events underlying metformin action. We showed that 24 h metformin treatment induced a cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phases, while after 72 h, melanoma cells underwent autophagy as demonstrated by electron microscopy, immunochemistry, and by quantification of the autolysosome-associated LC3 and Beclin1 proteins. In addition, 96 h post metformin treatment we observed robust apoptosis of melanoma cells. Interestingly, inhibition of autophagy by knocking down LC3 or ATG5 decreased the extent of apoptosis, and suppressed the antiproliferative effect of metformin on melanoma cells, suggesting that apoptosis is a consequence of autophagy. The relevance of these observations were confirmed in vivo, as we showed that metformin treatment impaired the melanoma tumor growth in mice, and induced autophagy and apoptosis markers. Taken together, our data suggest that metformin has an important impact on melanoma growth, and may therefore be beneficial in patients with melanoma.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.