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BMC Cancer
Published in: BMC Cancer 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Effect of metformin use on the risk and prognosis of endometrial cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Danxia Chu, Jie Wu, Kaili Wang, Mengling Zhao, Chunfang Wang, Liuxia Li, Ruixia Guo

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Previous studies have suggested that metformin may be useful for preventing and treating endometrial cancer (EC), while the results have been inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between metformin use and risk and prognosis of patients with EC.

Methods

PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched for observational studies evaluating the effect of metformin on EC prevention or treatment. The odds ratio (OR) was used for analyzing risks, and the hazard ratio (HR) was used for analyzing survival outcomes. A random-effects model was used for data analysis.

Results

Seven studies reported data on EC risk. The pooled results suggested that metformin was not significantly associated with a lower risk of EC [OR = 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82–1.35, P = 0.70]. For patients with diabetes, metformin showed no advantage in reducing the EC risk compared with other interventions (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.78–1.26, P = 0.95). Further, seven studies were included for survival analysis. The pooled data showed that metformin could significantly improve the overall survival of patients with EC (HR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.48–0.77, P < 0.05) and reduce the risk of EC recurrence (OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.28–0.92, P < 0.05) Finally, we noted metformin was associated with significantly improving the overall survival of EC patients among diabetes (HR = 0.47; 95%CI 0.33–0.67, P < 0.05).

Conclusions

This meta-analysis did not prove that metformin was beneficial for preventing EC. However, metformin could prolong the overall survival of patients with EC and reduce their risk of cancer relapse.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Effect of metformin use on the risk and prognosis of endometrial cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors
Danxia Chu
Jie Wu
Kaili Wang
Mengling Zhao
Chunfang Wang
Liuxia Li
Ruixia Guo
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-018-4334-5

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