ReviewCells2020
Metformin: Metabolic Rewiring Faces Tumor Heterogeneity.
Review in Cells, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Metabolic convergence of diabetes and prostate cancer: from dysglycemia to tumor microenvironment reprogramming.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026Review
- Tumor-immune metabolic tug-of-war: from immune escape to targeting metabolic rewiring in cancer therapy.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Decoding the metabolic dialogue in the tumor microenvironment: from immune suppression to precision cancer therapies.Experimental hematology & oncology · 2025Review
- Review
- CircPVT1 weakens miR-33a-5p unleashing the c-MYC/GLS1 metabolic axis in breast cancer.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Article
- Metformin combined with CB-839 specifically inhibits KRAS-mutant ovarian cancer.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The metabolic landscape of ovarian cancer stem cells: how do they survive?Frontiers in oncology · 2025Review
- Review
- The Mitochondrion: A Promising Target for Kidney Disease.Pharmaceutics · 2023Review
- Strategies to enhance CAR-T persistence.Biomarker research · 2022Review
- Acquired drug resistance interferes with the susceptibility of prostate cancer cells to metabolic stress.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2022Article
- Selenium Yeast and Fish Oil Combination Diminishes Cancer Stem Cell Traits and Reverses Cisplatin Resistance in A549 Sphere Cells.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Metformin's Mechanisms in Attenuating Hallmarks of Aging and Age-Related Disease.Aging and disease · 2022Article
- Integrated or Independent Actions of Metformin in Target Tissues Underlying Its Current Use and New Possible Applications in the Endocrine and Metabolic Disorder Area.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Metformin Affects Olaparib Sensitivity through Induction of Apoptosis in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Article
- lncRNA MALAT1 participates in metformin inhibiting the proliferation of breast cancer cell.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2021Article
- The Roles of the IGF Axis in the Regulation of the Metabolism: Interaction and Difference between Insulin Receptor Signaling and IGF-I Receptor Signaling.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- The Hormetic Effect of Metformin: "Less Is More"?International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Tumor heterogeneity impinges on all the aspects of tumor history, from onset to metastasis and relapse. It is growingly recognized as a propelling force for tumor adaptation to environmental and micro-environmental cues. Metabolic heterogeneity perfectly falls into this process. It strongly contributes to the metabolic plasticity which characterizes cancer cell subpopulations-capable of adaptive switching under stress conditions, between aerobic glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation-in both a convergent and divergent modality. The mitochondria appear at center-stage in this adaptive process and thus, targeting mitochondria in cancer may prove of therapeutic value. Metformin is the oldest and most used anti-diabetic medication and its relationship with cancer has witnessed rises and falls in the last 30 years. We believe it is useful to revisit the main mechanisms of action of metformin in light of the emerging views on tumor heterogeneity. We first analyze the most consolidated view of its mitochondrial mechanism of action and then we frame the latter in the context of tumor adaptive strategies, cancer stem cell selection, metabolic zonation of tumors and the tumor microenvironment. This may provide a more critical point of view and, to some extent, may help to shed light on some of the controversial evidence for metformin's anticancer action.
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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.