Metformin and brain tumours
Metformin is a medicine commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes. Researchers are now studying whether it could also help in the treatment of brain tumours.
On this page:
- What is metformin?
- How could metformin help brain tumour treatment?
- Is it currently being used in treatment?
- What to do if you’re interested in metformin as part of your treatment?
What is metformin?
Metformin is a medicine used to treat patients with type 2 diabetes. It’s also sometimes used to treat women with polycstic ovary syndrome.
It may also be referred to by its brand names Bolamyn®, Diagemet®, Glucient®, Glucophage® or Metabet®.
Although metformin is used to reduce blood glucose levels in patients with diabetes, it does not lower glucose levels in the brain.
How could metformin help brain tumour treatment?
Research suggests metformin might:
- Slow down tumour growth
- Make treatments like chemotherapy (temozolomide) and radiotherapy work better
- Reduce resistance to treatment in glioblastoma and glioma stem cells.
It might help to do this because of its ability to starve tumour cells of energy.
Brain tumour cells need a lot of energy to divide and grow. But, metformin might use its properties to interfere with two of their energy-making processes; glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation.
With less energy to use, tumour cells can’t grow or multiply as well.
Is it currently being used in treatment?
At the moment, metformin is not a standard treatment for brain tumours.
Some clinical trials have tested it alongside existing therapies and shown promising results, like longer survival times.
But, more research is needed to confirm who could benefit most and what the right dose should be.
What to do if you’re interested in metformin as part of your treatment?
If you are interested in repurposing drugs like metformin for brain tumour treatment, it’s important to talk to your medical team before taking any action.
Your medical team knows your individual treatment plan and will be able to decide if it’s right for you.
NICE do not recommend metformin as a treatment for brain tumours. It is important to speak to your healthcare team before taking any new medications or making changes to your current brain tumour treatment.
Make the right choices for you
Our Step by Step interactive guide outlines what happens following a diagnosis, to answer your questions and help you to understand what to expect.
Support and Information Services
Research & Clinical Trials Information
You can also join our active online community.
In this section
Get support
If you need someone to talk to or advice on where to get help, our Support and Information team is available by phone, email or live-chat.
Recommended reading
Share your experiences and help create change
By taking part in our Improving Brain Tumour Care surveys and sharing your experiences, you can help us improve treatment and care for everyone affected by a brain tumour.