Metformin exerts anti-cancerogenic effects and reverses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition trait in primary human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cells.

ABSTRACT: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a highly aggressive cancer with marked resistance to chemotherapeutics without therapies. The tumour microenvironment of iCCA is enriched of Cancer-Stem-Cells expressing Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) traits, being these features associated with aggressiveness and drug resistance. Treatment with the anti-diabetic drug Metformin, has been recently associated with reduced incidence of iCCA. We aimed to evaluate the anti-cancerogenic effects of Metformin in vitro and in vivo on primary cultures of human iCCA. Our results showed that Metformin inhibited cell proliferation and induced dose- and time-dependent apoptosis of iCCA. The migration and invasion of iCCA cells in an extracellular bio-matrix was also significantly reduced upon treatme

SUBMITTER: Di Matteo S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7844056 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature