ArticleCancer science2020
Metformin changes the immune microenvironment of colorectal cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Article in Cancer science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic value of metformin in cancers: An updated meta-analysis based on 80 cohort studies.Medicine · 2022 · on this mapPooled it
- Guided immunotherapy for residual solid tumor: integrating platelets and CAR T cells to reduce post-surgical recurrence.Biomarker research · 2026Review
- Pharmacological mechanisms and clinical impacts of antidiabetic drugs on colorectal cancer risk: a systematic review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Metformin reshapes the tumor microenvironment and enhances prognosis in invasive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with diabetes mellitus.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2025Article
- Targeting Metabolic Reprogramming in Bladder Cancer Immunotherapy: A Precision Medicine Approach.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Metformin modulates FJX1 via upregulation of Hsa-miR-1306-3p to suppress colon adenocarcinoma viability.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exploring biomarkers and molecular mechanisms of Type 2 diabetes mellitus promotes colorectal cancer progression based on transcriptomics.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Tertiary lymphoid structures in colorectal cancer.Annals of medicine · 2024Review
- Review
- Metformin's role in lowering colorectal cancer risk among individuals with diabetes from the Southern Community Cohort Study.Cancer epidemiology · 2024Article
- Metformin: A Dual-Role Player in Cancer Treatment and Prevention.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Metformin Alters Tumor Immune Microenvironment, Improving the Outcomes of Breast Cancer Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Journal of breast cancer · 2024Article
- Metformin may improve the outcome of patients with colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes mellitus partly through effects on neutrophil extracellular traps.BJC reports · 2023Article
- The Impact of Metformin on Tumor-Infiltrated Immune Cells: Preclinical and Clinical Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- The development and benefits of metformin in various diseases.Frontiers of medicine · 2023Review
- Association between visceral obesity, metformin use, and recurrence risk in early-stage colorectal cancer.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Diabetes Mellitus and Gastric Cancer: Correlation and Potential Mechanisms.Journal of diabetes research · 2023Review
- The anti-diabetic effects of metformin are mediated by regulating long non-coding RNA.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
- Metformin and Its Immune-Mediated Effects in Various Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Targeting of the tumor immune microenvironment by metformin.Journal of cell communication and signaling · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that metformin reduces the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, underlying mechanisms have not been fully clarified. The aim of this study was to examine the pathological characteristics of resected CRC from patients treated with metformin for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). In total, 267 patients with DM underwent curative colectomy for Stage I-III CRC and 53 (19.9%) patients had been treated medically including metformin. Pathological N-stage was significantly lower in metformin-treated patients (P < .05) with prolonged disease-free survival (DFS) (P < .05). Immunohistochemistry showed that the densities of CD3(+) and CD8(+) tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in the invasive front area were significantly higher in 40 patients treated with metformin compared with propensity score matched cases without metformin (P < .05). The density of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in tumor stroma was markedly increased in metformin-treated patients (P < .001). In those tumors, there were more CD68(+) tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) infiltrated (P < .05), while the ratio of CD163(+) M2-phenotype was markedly reduced (P < .001). Stromal fibrosis tended to be suppressed by metformin intake (P = .051). These findings suggested that metformin drastically changes the characteristics of infiltrating immune cells in CRC and reprograms the tumor microenvironment from immunosuppressive to immunocompetent status, which may lead to suppression of microscopic tumor spread and improve the outcomes of patients with CRC and type 2 DM.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.