Metformin in non-diabetic women with endometrial cancer

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Proof of mechanism pre-surgical window trial of metformin in non-diabetic women with endometrial carcinoma: a feasibility study

• IRAS ID

  67178

• Sponsor organisation

  Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Eudract number

  2011-001382-40

• ISRCTN Number

  0

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  0

• Research summary

  Endometrial cancer, or cancer of the lining of the womb, has become the most common cancer of the reproductive tract in British women. Obese women are at increased risk of the disease and are also more likely to die from it. The recent obesity epidemic means that more women than ever before are developing the disease. Endometrial cancer can usually be cured by surgery but for obese or elderly women, surgery may be dangerous. It also renders a woman infertile. There is an urgent need to develop non-surgical treatments and preventative strategies for an increasingly obese female population.Metformin is one of the drugs used to treat diabetes. Recently, its role in the treatment of cancer has been explored. Diabetics who take metformin for many years are less likely to develop and die from cancer than those who do not. They are also more likely to respond well to chemotherapy if cancer does develop. Metformin has been shown to slow down the growth of breast, prostate, colon and endometrial cancers in the laboratory.This study will test the effect of metformin on endometrial cancer. Women with endometrial cancer will receive metformin for two to three weeks while they wait for their surgery. The effects of metformin will then be assessed by comparing the characteristics of the endometrial biopsy taken at diagnosis with those of an endometrial biopsy and the tumour specimen taken at hysterectomy. Women will be recruited from hospitals in the North West of England. The study will last approximately two years in total.

• REC name

  North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  11/NW/0442

• Date of REC Opinion

  19 Aug 2011

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion