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Grant awarded to investigate aspirin, diabetes drug for prostate cancer prevention

The National Cancer Institute has awarded a Career Development Award to a researcher from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey to investigate the effects of aspirin and metformin on the control and prevention of prostate cancer in obese men, according to a press release.

XiangLin Tan, MD, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, will be awarded $852,705 to evaluate whether men with a BMI of 30 or greater would have a reduction in prostate cancer prevalence and mortality from the use of metformin or aspirin.

The research, which will run through July 2020, will include both randomized clinical trials and laboratory study, according to the release.

“The insulin-lowering effects of metformin and anti-inflammatory properties of aspirin have been suggested as the important mechanisms mediating their anti-tumor efficacy. We aim to show that metformin alone or in combination with aspirin will delay obesity-related prostate cancer progression by blocking the insulin/mTOR signaling and inflammation pathways,” Tan said in the release.