WIKIMEDIA, DONDLITwo classes of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes can increase metastasis of human tumors implanted in mice, according to a study published today (April 13) in Science Translational Medicine. The ability of these two classes of compounds—hypoglycemic dipeptidyl peptidase–4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and antineuropathic α-lipoic acid (ALA)—to accelerate metastasis was due to activation of an antioxidant response pathway that prompted expression of metastasis-promoting proteins, scientists in China have shown. The team’s results add to a growing body of literature highlighting links between antioxidants and the spread of cancer.
“The most important finding is that some antidiabetic agents . . . promote the metastasis of existing cancers by activating [an antioxidant response],” wrote study coauthor Hongting Zheng of the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China.
“The data are compelling and the study is consistent with other studies that would argue antioxidant activity can be helpful for cancer cells to metastasize,” said cell biologist Zachary Schafer of the University of Notre Dame who was not involved in the work.
“What most surprised me are the similar effects on so many tumor cell lines [the authors studied],” said Martin Bergö, who studies the effects of antioxidants on the spread of melanoma and lung cancer at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, but was not involved in ...
