Metformin in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Effect on Tissue Oxygenation
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2021-12-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The study evaluates the effects of the drug Metformin on the oxygen content in cancer tissue.
Low oxygen concentration in cancer tissue accelerates cancer growth. Moreover, the response
to radiation therapy is worse when tissue oxygen is low, because radiation therapy depends on
oxygen to unfold therapeutic effects. Metformin has been used to treat type II diabetes for
over 50 years and features additional properties that could slow down cancer growth. One of
these properties is the improved oxygen concentration in cancer tissue. This effect has been
proven for various cancers.
This study was planned to verify this effect in head and neck cancer. Patients who suffer
from cancer of the mouth and are planned for surgical removal of the cancer will be given
Metformin for 9 to 14 days. The tissue removed in the subsequent surgery will be compared to
a tissue sample that had been taken from the same patient prior to Metformin intake. To
evaluate the oxygen content in the tissue samples, the expression of genes that react to
oxygen levels will be measured and compared between the samples taken before and after
treatment with Metformin.
A secondary aim is to evaluate whether changes in the oxygen content within the tumor can be
visualized by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Therefore, participants undergo an
MRI scan, before and after Treatment with Metformin. The changes in the MRI will be
correlated to the changes measured in gene expression.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University Hospital Inselspital, Berne
Collaborators:
University of Bern Werner und Hedy Berger-Janser - Stiftung Werner und Hedy Berger-Janser – Stiftung