Metformin + Tamoxifen
I found this in my rabbithole journey into metformin and its anticancer (or not- read my blogs) properties. Adding metformin to women who are on Tamoxifen? This is one area where it seems to help prevent uterine cancer and help with insulin resistance and weight gain.
Many women have estrogen receptor positive breast cancers (ER-positive), so a super common treatment for women after cancer diagnosis is to add Tamoxifen. One of the issues with this, is that tamoxifen can cause your uterine lining to build up, form polyps, and can increase the risk of endometrial cancer. So someone thought- hey, metformin is thought to stop the build up of the uterine lining and help with obesity and insulin resistance. Should we try it here?
- A placebo-controlled phase II study added metformin to tamoxifen to protect the endometrium
- random, 101 nondiabetic women to receive either metformin or placebo along with tamoxifen.
- Compared with placebo, the metformin arm significantly reduced weight and waist circumference, decreased endometrial thickness, and improved insulin sensitivity.
They conclude, “The ability of metformin to inhibit tamoxifen-induced endometrial changes warrants further investigation.”
My thoughts?
So interesting. As I repeat ad nauseum, you need to analyze you. Is your blood “rich” with fasting glucose or HbA1C at all? I don’t think this may help everyone. But if you are on Tamoxifen and your HbA1C is 5.6? I would look into this and discuss with your doctor.