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A cheap and relatively safe diabetes drug, metformin, might have cancer-fighting properties, according to an international study - but findings fall short of proving it actually can stave off cancer. Researchers, whose findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that women with diabetes who took the medication had a 25 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer over more than a decade of follow-up.
"Metformin use in postmenopausal women with diabetes was associated with lower incidence of invasive breast cancer," wrote lead researcher Rowan Chlebowski, at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbour-UCLA Medical Center.
"These results can inform future studies evaluating metformin use in breast cancer management and prevention."
Metformin, also sold under the brand name Glucophage, has been on the market for many years and is generally considered safe, although five to 10 percent of patients experience side effects like nausea and bloating.
It is used by millions of type 2 diabetics every day to help control their blood sugar, and studies have shown it also shrinks lung and breast tumours in mice. Several reports show people taking it for diabetes appear to develop cancer less often.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

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