The effect of metformin on sex hormones in non-diabetic breast cancer patients in CCTG MA.32: A Phase III randomized adjuvant trial of metformin versus placebo in addition to standard therapy.

Abstract

529 Background: The effect of metformin on sex hormones (SHs) levels that may impact breast cancer (BC) outcome, is unclear. We evaluated the effect of metformin on SHs in a subgroup of women enrolled in the placebo-controlled MA.32 trial, a phase III randomized study of nondiabetic subjects with T1-3, N0-3 BC randomized to receive metformin 850 mg po bid or placebo for 5 years. Methods: Our substudy was conducted on the group of post-menopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) negative BC and not receiving endocrine treatment enrolled in the trial. Post-menopausal was defined as prior bilateral oophorectomy or > 12 months since last menses without prior hysterectomy. Fasting blood and adherence to study drug at baseline and 6 months was required. Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), free testosterone and estradiol serum levels were evaluated using Roche Modular competitive ECLIA (electrochemiluminescense immunoassay). We compared change from baseline to 6 months in estradiol, SHBG and free testosterone between study arms using Wilcoxon sum rank tests and regression models to adjust for baseline BMI and weight change. Results: 304 women were eligible, 135 metformin vs 169 placebo; tumor stage and prior (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy (98% in both arms) and HER2 targeted treatment were well balanced between arms. At baseline mean age was 58.2±6.9 vs 57.6±7.9 years, mean BMI 26.9±4.9 vs 28.6±6.2 Kg/m2, median estradiol 29.82 vs 31.01 pmol/L, SHBG 80.6 vs 73.7 nmol/L and free testosterone 0.02 vs 0.03 nmol/L in metformin vs placebo patients, respectively. In univariable analysis, median estradiol decreased significantly between baseline and 6 months on the metformin vs placebo arm (-4.81 vs 0 pmol/L, p = < 0.0001); this difference remained significant after controlling for baseline BMI (p = 0.0001) and weight change (mean weight change -1.8±3.5 vs 0.4±3.5 Kg, p = < 0.0001 for metformin vs placebo respectively) between baseline and 6 months (p = 0.0007). In contrast, there was no significant change in SHBG or free testosterone (median change SHBG -5.5 vs -5.9 nmol/L, p = 0.33; median change free testosterone 0 vs 0 nmol/L, p = 0.33 for metformin vs placebo respectively). Conclusions: Metformin lowered estradiol levels, independent of weight change in non-diabetic post-menopausal women with ER and PR negative BC enrolled onto MA.32 trial. This observation suggests a new metformin action that has potential relevance to BC management.