ArticleCancer research and treatment2017
Effects and Mechanisms of Metformin on the Proliferation of Esophageal Cancer Cells
Article in Cancer research and treatment, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus confers unfavorable short- and long-term outcomes in patients undergoing esophagectomy.Surgical endoscopy · 2026Article
- Targeting Pyruvate Kinase M2: Signal Transduction Pathways and Exploration of Cancer Therapeutic Strategies.The AAPS journal · 2026Review
- Integration of artificial intelligence and high-content screening enabled identification of drugs for long-term treatment of cerebral cavernous malformation disease.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Unlocking Novel Therapeutic Potential of Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Metformin and glioma: Targeting metabolic dysregulation for enhanced therapeutic outcomes.Translational oncology · 2025Review
- Exploring the Effects of Metformin on the Body via the Urine Proteome.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Metformin and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway: implications for cancer, cardiovascular, and central nervous system diseases.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Review
- SRT3025-loaded cell membrane hybrid liposomes (3025@ML) enhanced anti-tumor activity of Oxaliplatin via inhibiting pyruvate kinase M2 and fatty acid synthase.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Article
- Review
- Metformin in Esophageal Carcinoma: Exploring Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Insights.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Metformin Induces a Caspase 3-Unrelated Apoptosis in Human Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines HCT116 and SW620.Cancer management and research · 2023Article
- Metformin and Cancer Hallmarks: Molecular Mechanisms in Thyroid, Prostate and Head and Neck Cancer Models.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- The Role of PKM2 in the Regulation of Mitochondrial Function: Focus on Mitochondrial Metabolism, Oxidative Stress, Dynamic, and Apoptosis. PKM2 in Mitochondrial Function.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2022Review
- Advances and challenges in the treatment of esophageal cancer.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2021Review
- Glucose and fatty acid metabolism involved in the protective effect of metformin against ulipristal-induced endometrial changes in rats.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- 12-Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Article
- Changes in protein expression due to metformin treatment and hyperinsulinemia in a human endometrial cancer cell line.PloS one · 2021Article
- The caspase-3/GSDME signal pathway as a switch between apoptosis and pyroptosis in cancer.Cell death discovery · 2020Review
- Metformin ameliorates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice by suppressing IGF-1.American journal of translational research · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe purpose of this study was to observe the effects of metformin on human esophageal cancer cell and to investigate its possible mechanisms. MATERIALS AND
methodsCell viability was detected by using a Cell Counting Kit-8, while cell cycle and apoptosis were assessed by flow cytometry and western blot was used to measure the expression of the related proteins. RNAi was used to knockout pyruvate kinase muscle isozyme 2 (PKM2). An Eca109 tumor model was established to evaluate the antitumor effect
resultsEsophageal cancer cells viability was reduced after metformin treatment. The cell cycle was arrested in the G0/G1 phase, apoptosis was induced, caspase 3 was activated, caspase 9 was downregulated, and the pro-apoptotic protein Bim increased. Further study revealed that metformin could suppress the expression of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor and its downstream proteins, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT/PKB), phosphorylation of AKT (pAKT), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p70S6K, and PKM2. Insulin-like growth factor 1 partly reversed metfromin-induced apoptosis and attenuated the repression effect of metfomin to PI3K, pAKT, and PKM2. Knockout PKM2 resulted in the activation of caspase 3, down-regulation of caspase 9, and increased expression of Bim. In the Eca109 xenograft model, metformin significantly reduced tumor growth. Furthermore, we found that metformin treatment increased the rate of apoptosis, down-regulation of PKM2, and up-regulation of Bim in tumor tissues.
conclusionMetformin restrained esophageal cancer cell proliferation partly by suppressing the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.
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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.