Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized study

Background and purpose: Locally advanced cervical cancer is treated with chemoradiotherapy. The treatment-related morbidity is high. Tumor hypoxia has prognostic impact and represents a valid, interventional target. This phase II study investigated efficacy of the antidiabetic drug metformin to modi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kjersti Skipar, Tord Hompland, Kjersti V. Lund, Christina S. Fjeldbo, Kristina Lindemann, Taran P. Hellebust, Heidi Lyng, Kjersti Bruheim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Medical Journals Sweden 2025-03-01
Series:Acta Oncologica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaoncologica/article/view/43045
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849390114752430080
author Kjersti Skipar
Tord Hompland
Kjersti V. Lund
Christina S. Fjeldbo
Kristina Lindemann
Taran P. Hellebust
Heidi Lyng
Kjersti Bruheim
author_facet Kjersti Skipar
Tord Hompland
Kjersti V. Lund
Christina S. Fjeldbo
Kristina Lindemann
Taran P. Hellebust
Heidi Lyng
Kjersti Bruheim
author_sort Kjersti Skipar
collection DOAJ
description Background and purpose: Locally advanced cervical cancer is treated with chemoradiotherapy. The treatment-related morbidity is high. Tumor hypoxia has prognostic impact and represents a valid, interventional target. This phase II study investigated efficacy of the antidiabetic drug metformin to modify hypoxia according to established biomarkers. Preliminary results including tolerability, safety and feasibility are reported here. Patients and methods: Patients were included in a 1:1 randomized, open-label design, comparing standard chemoradiotherapy ± metformin. Metformin 850 mg twice daily was administered 1 week before and during chemoradiotherapy. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) and tumor biopsies were collected at baseline, after 1 week of metformin treatment, and at brachytherapy for biomarker assessments. Tolerability and safety were determined by treatment completion rates and frequency of adverse events (AEs). Safety was further evaluated by possible increase in MRI-based hypoxia during the first week of metformin. Feasibility was determined by proportion of completed study interventions and imaging and biopsy procedures. Results: In total, 18 and 23 patients were allocated to the intervention and control arm, respectively. Eighteen and 15 patients completed metformin treatment for 1 and 5 weeks. Frequency of AEs ≥ grade 3 was not significantly different between study arms. Most AEs were gastrointestinal toxicities. Tumors with increase in hypoxia during the first week were all below the defined safety limit. A total of 98% of scheduled MR series and biopsies were collected with satisfactory quality. Interpretation: Addition of metformin to chemoradiotherapy is tolerable and safe. Serial sampling of MRI and tumor biopsies for hypoxia biomarker assessment is feasible.
format Article
id doaj-art-b863daddff5547ca8f2e8f7b4106d601
institution Kabale University
issn 1651-226X
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Medical Journals Sweden
record_format Article
series Acta Oncologica
spelling doaj-art-b863daddff5547ca8f2e8f7b4106d6012025-08-20T03:41:46ZengMedical Journals SwedenActa Oncologica1651-226X2025-03-016410.2340/1651-226X.2025.43045Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized studyKjersti Skipar0Tord Hompland1Kjersti V. Lund2Christina S. Fjeldbo3Kristina Lindemann4Taran P. Hellebust5Heidi Lyng6Kjersti Bruheim7Department of Oncology, Telemark Hospital Trust, Skien, Norway; Department of Radiation Biology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Radiation Biology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Radiation Biology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Surgical Oncology, Section for gynecological oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Medical Physics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Radiation Biology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, NorwayBackground and purpose: Locally advanced cervical cancer is treated with chemoradiotherapy. The treatment-related morbidity is high. Tumor hypoxia has prognostic impact and represents a valid, interventional target. This phase II study investigated efficacy of the antidiabetic drug metformin to modify hypoxia according to established biomarkers. Preliminary results including tolerability, safety and feasibility are reported here. Patients and methods: Patients were included in a 1:1 randomized, open-label design, comparing standard chemoradiotherapy ± metformin. Metformin 850 mg twice daily was administered 1 week before and during chemoradiotherapy. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) and tumor biopsies were collected at baseline, after 1 week of metformin treatment, and at brachytherapy for biomarker assessments. Tolerability and safety were determined by treatment completion rates and frequency of adverse events (AEs). Safety was further evaluated by possible increase in MRI-based hypoxia during the first week of metformin. Feasibility was determined by proportion of completed study interventions and imaging and biopsy procedures. Results: In total, 18 and 23 patients were allocated to the intervention and control arm, respectively. Eighteen and 15 patients completed metformin treatment for 1 and 5 weeks. Frequency of AEs ≥ grade 3 was not significantly different between study arms. Most AEs were gastrointestinal toxicities. Tumors with increase in hypoxia during the first week were all below the defined safety limit. A total of 98% of scheduled MR series and biopsies were collected with satisfactory quality. Interpretation: Addition of metformin to chemoradiotherapy is tolerable and safe. Serial sampling of MRI and tumor biopsies for hypoxia biomarker assessment is feasible. https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaoncologica/article/view/43045cervical cancermultimodal imaginghypoxia biomarkershypoxia modificationmetforminrandomized phase II trial
spellingShingle Kjersti Skipar
Tord Hompland
Kjersti V. Lund
Christina S. Fjeldbo
Kristina Lindemann
Taran P. Hellebust
Heidi Lyng
Kjersti Bruheim
Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized study
Acta Oncologica
cervical cancer
multimodal imaging
hypoxia biomarkers
hypoxia modification
metformin
randomized phase II trial
title Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized study
title_full Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized study
title_fullStr Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized study
title_full_unstemmed Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized study
title_short Tolerability, safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer: A phase II, randomized study
title_sort tolerability safety and feasibility of metformin combined with chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer a phase ii randomized study
topic cervical cancer
multimodal imaging
hypoxia biomarkers
hypoxia modification
metformin
randomized phase II trial
url https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaoncologica/article/view/43045
work_keys_str_mv AT kjerstiskipar tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy
AT tordhompland tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy
AT kjerstivlund tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy
AT christinasfjeldbo tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy
AT kristinalindemann tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy
AT taranphellebust tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy
AT heidilyng tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy
AT kjerstibruheim tolerabilitysafetyandfeasibilityofmetformincombinedwithchemoradiotherapyinpatientswithlocallyadvancedcervicalcanceraphaseiirandomizedstudy