Exploiting the cancer and diabetes metabolic connection for therapeutic purposes

Abstract

The uncontrolled cell proliferation that is characteristically associated with cancer is usually accompanied by alterations in the genome and cell metabolism. Indeed, the phenomenon of cancer cells metabolizing glucose using a less efficient anaerobic process even in the presence of normal oxygen levels, termed the Warburg effect, is currently considered to be one of the hallmarks of cancer. Diabetes, much like cancer, is defined by significant metabolic changes. Recent epidemiological studies have shown that diabetes patients treated with the anti-diabetic drug Metformin, have significantly lowered risk of cancer as compared to patients treated with other anti-diabetic drugs. We utilize a Boolean logic model of the pathways commonly mutated in cancer to not only investigate the efficacy of Metformin for cancer therapeutic purposes but also demonstrate how Metformin in concert with standard therapeutic drugs could provide better and less toxic clinical outcomes as compared to using chemotherapy alone.