Metformin in Lung Cancer: Review of in Vitro and in Vivo Animal Studies

Cancer cells display enhanced growth rates and a resistance to apoptosis. The ability of cancer cells to evade homeostasis and proliferate uncontrollably while avoiding programmed cell death/apoptosis is acquired through mutations to key signaling molecules, which regulate pathways involved in cell proliferation and survival and these mutations allow them to develop resistance to many chemotherapeutic agents, highlighting the need for development of new potent anti-cancer agents. Metformin has long been used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes and has recently attracted attention as a potential agent to be used in the treatment of cancer. The present review summarizes the existing in vitro and in vivo animal studies focusing on the anti-lung cancer effects of metformin and its effects on key proliferative and anti-apoptotic signaling pathways.