Metformin induces ferroptosis and suppresses malignant behaviors in diabetic breast cancer

Abstract

This study investigates the potential role of metformin in breast cancer treatment, especially its impact on ferroptosis—an iron-dependent form of programmed cell death. Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies globally, with limited treatment options, particularly for triple-negative breast cancer. The research involved analyzing tumor tissues from breast cancer patients. It was observed that the tumor tissues of diabetic patients treated with metformin had obvious iron accumulation, suggesting variations in the level of ferroptosis. Further analysis using gene transcription data from the TCGA database revealed correlations between diabetes-related genes and genes associated with ferroptosis. The experimental results indicated that metformin could evident inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer cells and induce ferroptosis in a diabetic model. Moreover, metformin was found to promote ferroptosis by affecting mitochondrial activity. In conclusion, the study suggests that metformin holds potential value in treating diabetic breast cancer, capable of suppressing tumor cell growth through the ferroptosis mechanism. These findings provide a new theoretical basis for using metformin as a treatment for breast cancer and lay the groundwork for future clinical applications.