Diabetes drug, Metformin may decrease risk of skin cancer, finds study

It was a population-based case-control study design of 6,880 patients diagnosed in Iceland between 2003-2017 with first-time basal cell carcinoma, SCCis and invasive SCC, and 69,620 population controls. Researchers used conditional logistic regression to calculate multivariate odds ratios (ORs).

Key findings of the study were:

• Among 1167 patients with BCC, researchers noted that about 4% were exposed to metformin, compared with 5.3% of controls.

• They also found that the odds of developing BCC were lower in those taking metformin (OR, 0.71), even at low doses.

• However, they noted that metformin use did not affect the risk of developing SCC.

• In those taking 501 to 1500 mg of metformin daily, they observed that there was a slight increase in the risk of SCC in situ (OR, 1.40).

The authors concluded, "Metformin is associated with decreased risk of BCC development, even at low doses. Metformin might have potential as a chemoprotective agent for patients at high risk of squamous cell carcinoma, although this will need confirmation in future studies."

For further information:

https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(21)00401-1/pdf