ArticleMolecular therapy oncolytics2021
Metformin preferentially enhances the radio-sensitivity of cancer stem-like cells with highly mitochondrial respiration ability in HMPOS.
Article in Molecular therapy oncolytics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- LKB1 Loss Sensitizes Lung Tumor Spheres to Mitomet-Induced Ferroptosis, and These Effects are Enhanced by mTOR Inhibition.Molecular carcinogenesis · 2026Article
- Targeting mitochondria as a potential therapeutic strategy against radioresistance in cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Drug Repurposing in Veterinary Oncology: Myth or Reality?Veterinary sciences · 2025Review
- Enhancing radiosensitivity of osteosarcoma by ITGB3 knockdown: a mechanism linked to enhanced osteogenic differentiation status through JNK/c-JUN/RUNX2 pathway activation.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Article
- Chemoresistance-Related Stem Cell Signaling in Osteosarcoma and Its Plausible Contribution to Poor Therapeutic Response: A Discussion That Still Matters.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Preclinical studies for improving radiosensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines by combining glutaminase inhibition and senolysis.Translational oncology · 2022Article
- Searching for a Paradigm Shift in Auger-Electron Cancer Therapy with Tumor-Specific Radiopeptides Targeting the Mitochondria and/or the Cell Nucleus.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Metformin and Cancer, an Ambiguanidous Relationship.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Biological evidence of cancer stem-like cells and recurrent disease in osteosarcoma.Cancer drug resistance (Alhambra, Calif.) · 2022Review
- Radioimmunotherapy Targeting IGF2R on Canine-Patient-Derived Osteosarcoma Tumors in Mice and Radiation Dosimetry in Canine and Pediatric Models.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Metformin has many anti-cancer effects, alone or in combination with radiation. However, the mechanism underlying its radio-sensitized effect is still unclear, especially for cancer stem-like cells (CSCs). Here, the radio-sensitized effect of metformin was investigated, and its mechanism was revealed in CSCs derived from canine osteosarcoma cell line (HMPOS), a canine osteosarcoma cell line. Spheroid cells (SCs) were used as CSCs-rich cells derived from sphere formation, and SCs were compared with normal adherent culture cells (ACs). The radio-sensitizing effect of metformin using clonogenic assay and tumor growth in mice xenograft model were evaluated, and the mechanism of its radio-sensitization focusing on mitochondrial function was revealed. Metformin significantly enhanced radio-sensitivity of SCs through its inhibition of the mitochondrial function, as shown by decreased oxygen consumption, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and decreased ATP production. Additionally, SCs had a higher ability of mitochondrial respiration than ACs, which may have caused difference of their sensitivity of metformin and irradiation. In conclusion, mitochondrial function might play an important role in the sensitivity of metformin and irradiation, and drugs that target mitochondrial respiration, such as metformin, are promising radio-sensitizers to target CSCs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.