ArticleThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2012
Metformin inhibits growth of thyroid carcinoma cells, suppresses self-renewal of derived cancer stem cells, and potentiates the effect of chemotherapeutic agents.
Article in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04298684 (Efficacy of Metformin Versus Sitagliptin on Benign Thyroid Nodules Size in Type 2 Diabetes), which is not on this map. Cited by 105 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Efficacy of Metformin Versus Sitagliptin on Benign Thyroid Nodules Size in Type 2 Diabetes: a 2-years Prospective Multicentric Study
Who cites it
105 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 193 citations in OpenAlex.
- Will metformin use lead to a decreased risk of thyroid cancer? A systematic review and meta-analyses.European journal of medical research · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Cancer outcomes and all-cause mortality in adults allocated to metformin: systematic review and collaborative meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials.Diabetologia · 2012Pooled it
- Sorafenib synergizes with metformin in NSCLC through AMPK pathway activation.International journal of cancer · 2015Trial
- Comparison of Metformin Combinations with Other Repurposed Drugs in the Treatment of Hamster Fibrosarcoma: A Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The public health burden of diabetes mellitus and thyroid disease: twin epidemics.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Review
- Metabolic crosstalk between differentiated thyroid cancer and cardiovascular disease: insulin resistance as a molecular bridge-a proposed mechanism.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Biological Anti-Tumoral Mechanisms of Metformin in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Reprogramming of fatty acid metabolism in thyroid cancer: Potential targets and mechanisms.Chinese journal of cancer research = Chung-kuo yen cheng yen chiu · 2025Article
- A novel exploration ofJournal of pharmaceutical analysis · 2025Article
- The Role of Inositols in Endocrine and Neuroendocrine Tumors.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Article
- Metabolic Reprogramming in Thyroid Cancer.Endocrinology and metabolism (Seoul, Korea) · 2024Review
- Drug repurposing for cancer therapy.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2024Review
- circRNA-PTPN4 mediated regulation of FOXO3 and ZO-1 expression: implications for blood-brain barrier integrity and cognitive function in uremic encephalopathy.Cell biology and toxicology · 2024Article
- Insulin Resistance: The Increased Risk of Cancers.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Review
- Effects of Metformin Therapy on Thyroid Volume and Functions in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Single-center Prospective Study.Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2024Observational
- Epidemiological, Pathophysiological, and Clinical Considerations on the Interplay between Thyroid Disorders and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Metformin mitigates radiation toxicity exerting antioxidant and genoprotective properties.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2023Article
- Metformin and cancer hallmarks: shedding new lights on therapeutic repurposing.Journal of translational medicine · 2023Review
45 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
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextHyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are the major reasons for a higher prevalence of several cancer entities in type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity. Metformin exerts a growth-inhibitory effect by reducing hyperinsulinemia and by a direct cellular action.
objectiveWe investigated the effect of metformin on growth of differentiated human thyroid cells, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cells, a doxorubicin-resistant thyroid carcinoma cell line, and thyroid cancer stem cells.
designThe antimitogenic effect of metformin was studied in thyroid cells derived from goiters and in thyroid carcinoma cell lines by analysis of cell growth, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis. Furthermore, the influence of pretreatment with insulin or with chemotherapeutic agents on metformin-induced growth inhibition was investigated in thyroid carcinoma cells, in a doxorubicin-resistant thyroid carcinoma cell line, and in derived carcinoma stem cells.
resultsMetformin showed an antimitogenic effect by inhibition of cell cycle progression and induction of apoptosis. In addition, metformin antagonized the growth-stimulatory effect of insulin, inhibited clonal cell growth, reduced thyroid cancer sphere formation, and potentiated the antimitogenic effect of chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin and cisplatin on undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma cells. Remarkably, the antiproliferative effect of metformin was even found in a doxorubicin-resistant thyroid carcinoma cell line. The growth-inhibitory effect of metformin was, however, not restricted to differentiated thyroid cells and undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma cells but was also demonstrated in thyroid carcinoma cancer stem cells.
conclusionsMetformin markedly diminished growth stimulation by insulin and showed an additive antimitogenic effect to chemotherapeutics agents. Therefore, our results suggest this drug as adjuvant treatment for thyroid cancer in type 2 diabetic patients.
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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.