Computer drug simulations offer warning about promising diabetes and
cancer treatment
Metformin highly effective in targeting diabetes and some cancers but potentially dangerous with others

Date:
February 28, 2022
Source:
University of Waterloo
Summary:
Using computer drug simulations, researchers have found that doctors
need to be wary of prescribing a promising treatment for all types
of cancer and patients.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Using computer drug simulations, researchers have found that doctors
need to be wary of prescribing a particular treatment for all types of
cancer and patients.


==========================================================================
The drug, called metformin, has traditionally been prescribed for
diabetes but has been used in clinical settings as a cancer treatment
in recent years.

The researchers say while metformin shows great promise, it also has
negative consequences for some types of cancers.

"Metformin is a wonder drug, and we are just beginning to understand all
its possible benefits," said Mehrshad Sadria, a PhD candidate in applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo. "Doctors need to examine the
value of the drug on a case-by-case basis, because for some cancers and
some patient profiles, it may actually have the opposite of the intended
effect by protecting tumour cells against stress." The computer-simulated treatments use models that replicate both the drug and the cancerous
cells in a virtual environment. Such models can give clinical trials
in humans a considerable head-start and can provide insights to medical practitioners that would take much longer to be discovered in the field.

"In clinical settings, drugs can sometimes be prescribed in a trial
and error manner," said Anita Layton, professor of applied mathematics
and Canada 150 Research Chair in mathematical biology and medicine at
Waterloo. "Our mathematical models help accelerate clinical trials and
remove some of the guesswork. What we see with this drug is that it
can do a lot of good but needs more study." The researchers say their
work shows the importance of precision medicine when considering the
use of metformin for cancer and other diseases. Precision medicine is
an approach that assumes each patient requires individualized medical assessment and treatment.

"Diseases and treatments are complicated," Sadria said. "Everything about
the patient matters, and even small differences can have a big impact
on the effect of a drug, such as age, gender, genetic and epigenetic
profiles. All these things are important and can affect a patient's
drug outcome. In addition, no one drug works for everyone, so doctors
need to take a close look at each patient when considering treatments
like metformin." Sadria, Layton and co-author Deokhwa Seo's paper was published in the journalBioMed Central Cancer.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Waterloo. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Mehrshad Sadria, Deokhwa Seo, Anita T. Layton. The mixed blessing
of AMPK
signaling in Cancer treatments. BMC Cancer, 2022; 22 (1) DOI:
10.1186/ s12885-022-09211-1 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220228091148.htm

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