THE ROLE OF METFORMIN ON NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER PROGRESSION AND SKELETAL MUSCLE HEALTH

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and maintains a small survival rate (~20%). Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) makes up 80-85% of all lung cancer diagnoses. Lung cancer patients routinely undergo surgical procedures, chemotherapy, and/or radiation and these therapies can drive ongoing systemic issues, greatly hindering patient welfare and recovery timelines. Importantly, chemotherapy and radiation can induce deleterious systemic side effects, particularly within skeletal muscle, that are not reversible even in remission. We conducted experiments to determine whether Metformin can reduce lung cancer tumor burden in immunocompetent mice while maintaining skeletal muscle health. Mice were given Lewis Lung Cancer, a form of NSCLC, in the left lung. Control animals received a vehicle treatment of saline and treated animals received Metformin. The cancer cells contained a bioluminescent reporter allowing tumor growth tracking throughout the study. Skeletal muscle homogenates from the cancer-bearing mice were analyzed for changes related to inflammation, muscle mass, and metabolism. Experiments with lung cancer cells in vitro were also conducted to determine how Metformin influences the oncogenic program of NSCLC. These findings led us to conclude that Metformin treatment, while exhibiting anti-neoplastic characteristics for many other cancers, may not be the best monotherapy for NSCLC tumor growth.