Diabetes Drug Metformin Reduces Cancer Risk, States Recent Study

Metformin, the drug prescribed for diabetes reduces the risk of a group of blood cancers, revealed a study by a group of medical researchers in Denmark.

The finding of these researchers in Denmark states that people taking metformin were at significantly lower risk of developing myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a disorder in which the bone marrow makes too many red blood cells, certain white blood cells, or platelets.

It was noted that the longer the duration that people used metformin, the lower their risk of developing MPNs.

The findings of the study were published on Friday in the journal Blood Advances published by the American Society of Hematology.

Daniel T. Kristensen, a researcher at Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark and the study’s lead author, said in a press release, “We saw the strongest effect in people who had taken metformin for more than five years compared to those who had taken the treatment for less than a year.”

MPN is an umbrella term that includes chronic myelogenous leukaemia and several other rare cancers that involve red blood cells, platelets or certain types of white blood cells called eosinophils and neutrophils. The disorders may cause anaemia, infections, bleeding problems and fatigue, among other symptoms.