Systematic review evaluates metformin's effects on survival outcomes in breast cancer patients, suggesting selective benefits.
Key Points
To evaluate the impact of metformin on overall survival, progression-free survival, and pathological complete response in breast cancer patients.
Comprehensive literature search in PubMed and Google Scholar until October 30, 2025.
Included randomized controlled trials and observational studies reporting on overall survival, progression-free survival, or pathological complete response.
Risk of bias assessed with RoB2 for RCTs and ROBINS-I for observational studies.
No significant improvement in overall survival, progression-free survival, or pathological complete response with metformin in patients without diabetes.
Observational studies indicated better overall survival (HR 0.75 to 0.82) and higher pathological complete response rates in diabetic patients, albeit with potential biases.
Benefits of metformin were more pronounced in patients with diabetes or insulin resistance, particularly in hormone receptor positive subtypes.
Cite This Study
Γεώργιος Π. Χρησταντωνίου (2026) studied this question.