A combination of the diabetes drug metformin with a drug for hypertension may prove a potent treatment for cancer, according to Swiss researchers.
The two drugs, metformin with syrosingopine, appear to be able to stimulate programmed suicide, according to the study from the University of Basel.
The drugs may work, at least partly, by blocking cancer cells’ access to blood glucose, the researchers say.
The findings have come from laboratory studies – but have shown promise in models of leukaemia and liver cancer, the researchers have reported in Science Advances.
The leukaemia study involved human cell cultures – and suggested that a non-toxic drug dose would kill almost all tumour cells.
The liver study involved a mouse model of the disease.
Researcher Dr Don Benjamin said: “We have been able to show that the two known drugs lead to more profound effects on cancer cell proliferation than each drug alone.
“The data from this study support the development of combination approaches for the treatment of cancer patients.”
Syrosingopine sensitizes cancer cells to killing by Metformin. Science Advances 23 December 2016; doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1601756
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