Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania
have discovered that a widely used anti-diabetic drug, metformin, can boost the
immune system and increase the potency of vaccines and cancer
treatments. They discovered that the widely prescribed diabetes treatment metformin
increases the efficiency of the immune system's T-cells, which in turn
makes cancer and virus-fighting vaccines more effective.
"We serendipitously discovered that the metabolizing, or burning, of
fatty acids by T-cells following the peak of infection is critical to
establishing immunological memory," Pearce added. "We used metformin,
which is known to operate on fatty-acid metabolism, to enhance this
process, and have shown experimentally in mice that metformin increases
T-cell memory as well as the ensuing protective immunity of an
experimental anti-cancer vaccine."
Few talk about cancer and diabetes in the same breath. However,
recent advances have uncovered common links between cancer and
diabetes, in particular how metabolic pathways, the basic chemical
reactions that happen in our cells, are controlled in these diseases.
The recent findings suggest a new link between the metabolic pathways
deregulated in cancer and diabetes and their role in immune cell
function. The results suggest that common diabetic therapies which
alter cellular metabolism may enhance T-cell memory, providing a boost
to the immune system. This could lead to novel strategies for vaccine
and anti-cancer therapies.
"Our findings were unanticipated, but are potentially extremely
important and could revolutionize current strategies for both
therapeutic and protective vaccines," Choi said.