In continuation of my update on metformin
A new study has found that metformin, a widely prescribed diabetes drug, may mimic one of exercise's core biological effects in men with prostate cancer, raising levels of a molecule tied to energy balance and weight control even when patients are inactive. The findings suggest metformin could help counter the metabolic strain of hormone therapy, when fatigue and other side effects often limit physical activity.
Led by physician-scientists at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the study appears in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.
Exercise is one of the most reliable ways to support health during cancer treatment. It helps regulate weight, blood sugar and cardiovascular health-factors that shape how patients feel during therapy and how well they recover afterward.
For many people with cancer, however, regular exercise isn't always feasible. Fatigue, hormone therapy, pain or advanced disease can limit physical activity precisely when metabolic health becomes most important.
That reality has led researchers to ask a practical question: if exercise confers its benefits through specific biological signals, could some of those signals be activated in other ways?
According to the research, the answer may be yes. Sylvester investigators report that metformin raises levels of a naturally occurring molecule involved in how the body manages energy and weight in prostate cancer patients.
The finding does not suggest that a pill can replace physical activity. Instead, it offers insight into the internal pathways that underlie exercise's metabolic benefits-and how those pathways might still be engaged when movement is limited.
This study reflects what's possible when laboratory science, metabolic biology and clinical investigation are intentionally brought together for transdisciplinary studies. By working across Sylvester's Tumor Biology, Cancer Epigenetics and Translational & Clinical Oncology programs, we were able to link a well-defined molecular signal to real patient data. The result isn't a new cancer biomarker, but a clearer understanding of how a widely used drug may support metabolic health during prostate cancer treatment-an outcome that matters to patients and clinicians alike."
Marijo Bilusic, M.D., Ph.D., Sylvester researcher and first author, genitourinary medical oncologist and professor of medicine and medical oncology at the Miller School.
At the center of the collaborative, team-science study is a molecule called N-lactoyl-phenylalanine, or Lac-Phe. While its name is technical, its role is relatively simple.
Lac‑Phe is produced when the body is under metabolic demand. It forms when lactate-a substance that accumulates during exertion-combines with phenylalanine, a basic building block of protein. Scientists first took notice of Lac‑Phe because its levels spike after intense exercise, coinciding with shifts in energy use and appetite regulation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin
