Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25333034›Full record

ReviewAnnals of translational medicine2014

Metformin may function as anti-cancer agent via targeting cancer stem cells: the potential biological significance of tumor-associated miRNAs in breast and pancreatic cancers.

Bin Bao, Asfar S Azmi, Shadan Ali, Feras Zaiem, Fazlul H Sarkar

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Annals of translational medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
50citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

50 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Effects of metformin on survival outcomes of lung cancer patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2016
    Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Let-7 underlies metformin-induced inhibition of hepatic glucose production.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022
    Article
  14. Review
  15. RETRACTED: Metformin and Breast Cancer: Where Are We Now?International journal of molecular sciences · 2022
    Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Repurposing of Anticancer Stem Cell Drugs in Brain Tumors.The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society · 2021
    Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Bin Bao1 Department of Pathology, 2 Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Asfar S Azmi1 Department of Pathology, 2 Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Shadan Ali1 Department of Pathology, 2 Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Feras Zaiem1 Department of Pathology, 2 Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Fazlul H Sarkar1 Department of Pathology, 2 Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Metformin is one of the most used diabetic drugs for the management of type II diabetes mellitus (DM) in the world. Increased numbers of epidemiological and clinical studies have provided convincing evidence supporting the role of metformin in the development and progression of a variety of human tumors including breast and pancreatic cancer. Substantial pre-clinical evidence from in vitro and in vivo experimental studies strongly suggests that metformin has an anti-cancer activity mediated through the regulation of several cell signaling pathways including activation of AMP kinase (AMPK), and other direct and indirect mechanisms; however, the detailed mechanism(s) has not yet been fully understood. The concept of cancer stem cells (CSCs) has gained significant attention in recent years due its identification and defining its clinical implications in many different tumors including breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. In this review, we will discuss the protective role of metformin in the development of breast and pancreatic cancers. We will further discuss the role of metformin as an anti-cancer agent, which is in part mediated through targeting CSCs. Finally, we will discuss the potential role of metformin in the modulation of tumor-associated or CSC-associated microRNAs (miRNAs) as part of the novel mechanism of action of metformin in the development and progression of breast and pancreatic cancers.

Indexed as

breast cancer and pancreatic cancercancer stem cells (CSCs)MetforminmicroRNAs (miRNAs)

Identifiers

PMID25333034
PMCPMC4200664
OpenAlexW1828202245

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.