Mayo study: Common diabetes drug may treat ovarian cancer
2012-12-03
(Press-News.org) ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Diabetic patients with ovarian cancer who took the drug metformin for their diabetes had a better survival rate than patients who did not take it, a study headed by Mayo Clinic shows. The findings, published early online in the journal Cancer, may play an important role for researchers as they study the use of existing medications to treat different or new diseases.
Metformin is a widely prescribed drug to treat diabetes, and previous research by others has shown its promise for other cancers. The Mayo-led study adds ovarian cancer to the list.
Researchers compared the survival of 61 patients with ovarian cancer taking metformin and 178 patients who were not taking metformin. Sixty-seven percent of the patients who took metformin were surviving after five years, compared with 47 percent of those who did not take the medication. When the researchers analyzed factors such as the patients' body mass index, the severity of the cancer, type of chemotherapy and quality of surgery, they found that patients taking metformin were nearly four times likelier to survive, compared with those not taking the medication.
"Our study demonstrated improved survival in women with ovarian cancer that were taking metformin," says co-author Sanjeev Kumar, M.B.B.S., a Mayo Clinic gynecologic oncology fellow. "The results are encouraging, but as with any retrospective study, many factors cannot be controlled for us to say if there is a direct cause and effect. Rather, this is further human evidence for a potential beneficial effect of a commonly used drug which is relatively safe in humans. These findings should provide impetus for prospective clinical trials in ovarian cancer."
The results may pave the way for using metformin in large-scale randomized trials in ovarian cancer, researchers say. Given the high mortality rate of ovarian cancer, researchers say there is a great need to develop new therapies for ovarian cancer. Metformin may potentially be one of these options.
###
Other study authors are Alexandra Meuter, M.D., of Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Shailendra Giri, Ph.D., and Ramandeep Rattan, Ph.D., of Henry Ford Health System; Jeremy Chien, Ph.D., of the University of Kansas Medical Center; Prabin Thapa, M.S.; Carrie Langstraat, M.D.; William Cliby, M.D.; and Viji Shridhar, Ph.D. of Mayo Clinic.
This work was supported, in whole or in part, by Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation grant, and CA123249 and P50 CA136393 National Institutes of Health grants.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/about and www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-12-03
WASHINGTON – For people living in both rich and poor countries, the average person's happiness is based on a combination of individual wealth, possessions and optimism, according to an analysis of new worldwide survey findings published by the American Psychological Association.
A country's gross domestic product per capita did not have as much of an impact on the average person's happiness, according to research based on responses of 806,526 people in 135 countries from 2005 to 2011. Happiness expert and psychologist Edward Diener, PhD, of the University of Illinois, ...
2012-12-03
Public relations and social media expert Joyce Luhrs will provide free one-on-one consulting about public relations and publicity to nonprofit leaders attending the Center for Non-Profits' annual conference, Riding the Winds of Change: Harnessing Our Collective Power. Nonprofit leaders and executive directors of organizations throughout New Jersey will participate in the daylong event on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Monroe in Jamesburg, New Jersey.
A public relations, marketing and grants consultant with over 20 years experience, Ms. Luhrs is volunteering ...
2012-12-03
Dr. James Perdue an, author, public speaker and inspirational motivator has launched a new book to support the new addition to his website "A One More Play" new print version published by Westbow Press.
Many people lose sight of their dreams especially those that have suffered a disability as Dr. Perdue. Some people deny their dreams or simply fall into depression because of certain failures.
After becoming a quadriplegic at the age of nineteen, James persevered past his paralysis by completing his doctorate degree, becoming an educator and coach, and now ...
2012-12-03
Exploring complex contemporary family life and couples through the lens of photography, fine art photographer Steve Giovinco is included in the stunning museum exhibition, "the kids are alright."
The fine art photography show is at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin and runs through January 20, 2012.
The exhibition concentrates on contemporary photography and time-based media by nearly 40 artists who bring the bedrock theme of family into the 21st Century. THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT includes award winning and widely exhibiting photographers ...
2012-12-03
"Payroll tax processing and year-end tax reporting should not be a pain for small business owners," said Halfpricesoft.com founder Dr. Ge. "We believe small business software should be simple, reliable and affordable - so we intentionally engineered this software for business owners who are not professional accountants and payroll tax experts."
EzPaycheck, the payroll and check printing software, from Halfpricesoft.com gives small and mid-size businesses another option to calculate payroll tax, print paychecks and file tax forms easily and quickly. ...
2012-12-03
The Maltese Cross Corps charity organization has a long, great tradition of organizing the "Saint Nicholas Goes to Orphans" action shortly before Saint Nicholas Day on December 19th. The mission of the action is to raise funds and get presents for orphans and disadvantaged children.
Every child in the Ukraine looks forward to the night of December 19th, when Saint Nicholas, the Ukrainian version of Santa Claus, comes to their room and leaves presents under their pillow. Also, on this day, children write letters to Saint Nicholas with their list of presents.
This ...
2012-12-03
Starlight Children's Foundation Florida is making helping seriously ill children as simple as a text message. With their new mobile giving campaign, anyone can text the word "SMILES" to 80000 to donate $10 to the non-profit organization.
When a child or teenager has a serious medical condition, everyone in the family is affected. Ongoing donations will ensure that more families have access to Starlight's entertainment, education and family activity programs which distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and ...
2012-12-03
Career Woman, Inc., a Seattle-based career coaching and consulting firm, recently received the Gold Blog of the Year award from the Stevie Awards for Women in Business for its insightful, resource-rich and action-oriented blog. CareerWomanInc.com also received a Bronze award in the Website of the Year category.
Founded by Lisa Quast, Career Woman, Inc.'s mission is to close the gender gap around inequality of pay and stature by providing women with the necessary tools to obtain career success. Offering timely and thoughtful blog entries, Career Woman, Inc. offers readers ...
2012-12-03
A century after the iconic French designer Jacques Fath's birthday, the Parisian design house, The House of Fath, reemerges with an accessories collection that gives air to the same mysterious edge, wild imagination, and playful excess that earned this self-taught designer the moniker "Little Prince of Paris Haute Couture".
Not only was Jacques Fath considered one of the three most dominant influences on postwar haute couture, along with Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, but he was also one of the first designers to introduce prêt-a-porter to the American ...
2012-12-03
APT Partners Managing Director Dr William Becker this morning announced that despite his recent statements, the company will not move ahead with its plans to open a dedicated small cap centre until the end of 2013 due to the company's current workload and short-term contracts in the pipeline.
The planned office would have served to provide a walk-in centre for small business owners to get information on initial public offerings and stock market floatation. Recently instated Managing Director, Dr William Becker said "We will push forward with this planned restructuring, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Mayo study: Common diabetes drug may treat ovarian cancer
