ArticlePloS one2015
Phenformin Induces Cell Cycle Change, Apoptosis, and Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition and Regulates the AMPK/mTOR/p70s6k and MAPK/ERK Pathways in Breast Cancer Cells.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed.
- Phenformin-Induced Apoptosis: A Potential Mechanism for Cervical Cancer Cell Inhibition.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- AMPK in Intestinal Health and Disease: A Multifaceted Therapeutic Target for Metabolic and Inflammatory Disorders.Drug design, development and therapy · 2025Review
- Progress in antitumor mechanisms and applications of phenformin (Review).Oncology reports · 2024Review
- Repurposing Metabolic Inhibitors in the Treatment of Colon Adenocarcinoma Patient-Derived Models.Cells · 2023Article
- Article
- Targeting Breast Cancer and Their Stem Cell Population through AMPK Activation: Novel Insights.Cells · 2022Review
- Breast Cancer Cell Subtypes Display Different Metabolic Phenotypes That Correlate with Their Clinical Classification.Biology · 2021Article
- Identification of the effects of acid-resistantIranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2021Article
- Mitochondrial Metabolism in PDAC: From Better Knowledge to New Targeting Strategies.Biomedicines · 2020Review
- Hispidulin Enhances TRAIL-Mediated Apoptosis via CaMKK/AMPK/USP51 Axis-Mediated Bim Stabilization.Cancers · 2019Article
- Combining use of Phillyrin and autophagy blocker alleviates laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma via AMPK/mTOR/p70S6K signaling.Bioscience reports · 2019Article
- ERK is a Pivotal Player of Chemo-Immune-Resistance in Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
- CTAB Enhances Chemo-Sensitivity Through Activation of AMPK Signaling Cascades in Breast Cancer.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2019Article
- Repurposed Biguanide Drugs in Glioblastoma Exert Antiproliferative Effects via the Inhibition of Intracellular Chloride Channel 1 Activity.Frontiers in oncology · 2019Review
- Combination of metformin and phenformin synergistically inhibits proliferation and hTERT expression in human breast cancer cells.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2018Article
- FR58P1a; a new uncoupler of OXPHOS that inhibits migration in triple-negative breast cancer cells via Sirt1/AMPK/β1-integrin pathway.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Bioenergetic modulators hamper cancer cell viability and enhance response to chemotherapy.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2018Article
- Phenformin alone or combined with gefitinib inhibits bladder cancer via AMPK and EGFR pathways.Cancer communications (London, England) · 2018Article
- TheGenes · 2018Review
- Antidiabetic Biguanides Radiosensitize Hypoxic Colorectal Cancer Cells Through a Decrease in Oxygen Consumption.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Breast cancer remains a world-wide challenge, and additional anti-cancer therapies are still urgently needed. Emerging evidence has demonstrated the potent anti-tumor effect of biguanides, among which phenformin was reported to potentially be a more active anti-cancer agent than metformin. However, little attention has been given to the role of phenformin in breast cancer. In this study, we reveal the role of phenformin in cell death of the MCF7, ZR-75-1, MDA-MB-231 and SUM1315 breast cancer cell lines. The respective IC50 values of phenformin in MCF7, ZR-75-1, MDA-MB-231 and SUM1315 cells were 1.184±0.045 mM, 0.665±0.007 mM, 2.347±0.010 mM and 1.885±0.015 mM (mean± standard error). Phenformin induced cell cycle change and apoptosis in breast cancer cells via the AMPK/mTOR/p70s6k and MAPK/ERK pathways. Interestingly, phenformin induced MET (mesenchymal-epithelial transition) and decreased the migration rate in breast cancer cell lines. Furthermore, our results suggest that phenformin inhibits breast cancer cell metastasis after intracardiac injection into nude mice. Taken together, our study further confirms the potential benefit of phenformin in breast cancer treatment and provides novel mechanistic insight into its anti-cancer activity in breast cancer.
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