ArticlePloS one2018
Anti-metastatic effect of metformin via repression of interleukin 6-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human colon cancer cells.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metformin and colorectal cancer: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.International journal of colorectal disease · 2020 · on this mapPooled it
- A phase II, open-label, non-randomized, prospective study assessing paclitaxel, carboplatin and metformin in the treatment of advanced stage ovarian carcinoma.Journal of gynecologic oncology · 2023Trial
- The central role of IL-6 in the differential effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists and metformin across multiple health conditions.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Metformin Inhibits Inflammation by Targeting the NLRP3 Inflammasome: Linking NF-κB/NEK7/AMPK Signaling to Mitochondrial Function.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Metformin's multifaceted role in colorectal cancer: mechanisms of action and synergy with standard treatments.Discover oncology · 2025Review
- Src-FAK Signaling Mediates Interleukin 6-Induced HCT116 Colorectal Cancer Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Action Mechanism of Metformin and Its Application in Hematological Malignancy Treatments: A Review.Biomolecules · 2023Review
- NURR1 expression regulates retinal pigment epithelial-mesenchymal transition and age-related macular degeneration phenotypes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Metformin inhibits the development and metastasis of colorectal cancer.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2022Article
- Metformin and Cancer, an Ambiguanidous Relationship.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Natural Products for Cancer Therapy: A Review of Their Mechanism of Actions and Toxicity in the Past Decade.Journal of tropical medicine · 2022Review
- Cancer Chemoprevention: A Strategic Approach Using Phytochemicals.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Review
- Exosomal miR-128-3p Promotes Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Colorectal Cancer Cells by Targeting FOXO4 via TGF-β/SMAD and JAK/STAT3 Signaling.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Article
- Role of gut microbiome in regulating the effectiveness of metformin in reducing colorectal cancer in type 2 diabetes.World journal of clinical cases · 2020Review
- Metformin Suppresses the Proliferation and Promotes the Apoptosis of Colon Cancer Cells Through Inhibiting the Expression of Long Noncoding RNA-UCA1.OncoTargets and therapy · 2020Article
- The Role of Interleukins in Colorectal Cancer.International journal of biological sciences · 2020Review
- Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Genistein in Cancer: Recent Advances.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Metformin, a first-line drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, has also been shown to have anticancer effects against a variety of malignancies, including colorectal cancer. Although inhibition of the mTOR pathway is known to be the most important mechanism for the antitumor effects of metformin, other mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify the antitumor mechanism of metformin in colorectal cancer using high-throughput data, and then test the mechanism experimentally. We identified the gene signature of metformin-treated colon cancer cells. This signature was processed for prediction using colon adenocarcinoma patient data from the Cancer Genome Atlas to classify the patients showing a gene expression pattern similar to that in metformin-treated cells. This patient group showed better overall and disease-free survival. Furthermore, pathway analysis revealed that the metformin-predicted group was characterized by decreased interleukin (IL)-6 pathway signaling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and colon cancer metastatic signaling. We induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colon cancer cell lines via IL-6 treatment, which increased cell motility and promoted invasion. However, these effects were blocked by metformin. These findings suggest that blockade of IL-6-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition is an antitumor mechanism of metformin.
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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.