Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Dec 07, 2025 4 hours, 31 minutes ago
Medical News: A growing body of scientific evidence is revealing that metformin, one of the world’s most common diabetes medications, may also hold surprising potential in the fight against glioblastoma multiforme, an extremely aggressive and often fatal form of brain cancer. Researchers from Nova Southeastern University’s Kiran C Patel College of Allopathic Medicine in Florida-USA conducted an extensive systematic review and meta-analysis to understand how metformin affects tumor cells in laboratory studies and living animal models. Their findings offer renewed hope for more affordable treatment options, especially as this Medical News report highlights the global struggle with rising cancer therapy costs.
Researchers find metformin may weaken glioblastoma cells and boost survival in preclinical studies
Why Glioblastoma Is So Hard to Treat
Glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults and is notorious for its rapid growth, ability to invade healthy tissue, and resistance to standard treatments. Even with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, most patients survive only around 15 months after diagnosis. GBM’s stubborn nature comes from its ability to hijack blood vessels, suppress immune responses and rely heavily on abnormal metabolic pathways that fuel its growth.
How Metformin Affects GBM Cells
Across seven laboratory studies, the researchers found that metformin consistently reduced the survival of glioblastoma cells. The drug disrupts the tumor’s energy supply by blocking mitochondrial activity, lowering cellular energy stores and activating a stress response pathway known as AMPK. This cascade shuts down mTOR, a central growth-promoting system inside cancer cells. As a result, GBM cells lose the ability to multiply efficiently.
Several of the analyzed studies also showed that metformin can weaken cancer stem-like cells, a dangerous population believed to drive tumor relapse. Some experiments even revealed that metformin interferes with pathways linked to tumor spread, including TGF-β1 and AKT signaling.
Metformin as an Add-on Therapy Shows Even Stronger Benefits
In eight animal studies, researchers found trends toward longer survival when mice with glioblastoma received metformin. While results varied, the combined data suggested improved outcomes, particularly when the drug was paired with existing treatments. In fact, when metformin was used together with standard therapies such as temozolomide, radiation, dichloroacetate or anti PD 1 immunotherapy, survival benefits became significantly stronger. One model showed a hazard ratio as low as 0.23, indicating a dramatic reduction in the risk of death.
What the Findings Suggest for the Future
Although these results are from preclinical research and not yet human trials, they provide strong evidence that metformin could become an affordable and effective add on therapy for glioblastoma. Because metformin is inexpensive, widely available and already known to be safe, it offers a promising path for improving GBM treatment while reducing financial burdens. The researchers emphasize that larg
er clinical studies are needed to determine how well these encouraging laboratory findings translate to real patients, but the foundational evidence is compelling and timely.
Conclusions
Taken together, this growing body of research supports metformin as a powerful candidate for repurposing in glioblastoma treatment. Its ability to shut down cancer metabolism, reduce cell survival and enhance existing treatments gives healthcare providers and researchers new hope for tackling one of the world’s most challenging brain cancers. As clinical trials advance, metformin could potentially shift the treatment landscape for GBM, offering a rare combination of affordability, safety and measurable biological impact supported by strong preclinical science.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Neuroglia.
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6980/6/4/40
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