Association of Diabetes and Metformin Use with Gastric Cancer: A Case-Control Study

 Background and purpose: Recently, several studies have shown type 2 diabetes to be associated with gastric cancer and metformin appears to inhibit the growth of cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between metformin and gastric cancer. Materials and methods: This case-control study included patients with gastric cancer (case group, n= 121) and a family member of patients with cancer (control group, n= 119). Diabetes history, duration and management of glucose level were recorded in a checklist and data were analyzed in SPSS applying T-test and Chi-square test. Also, logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio. Results: There were significant differences between the case group and control group in terms of age, gender, place of residence, level of education, BMI, and smoking (P<0.05). The adjusted odds ratio for history of diabetes was 0.87 (Adjusted OR=0.87, CI95%: 0.3-2.35) which was not significant (P=0.751). The study showed no significant difference between the two groups in history of diabetes control drugs (including metformin) (P>0.05). Conclusion: According to current study, it appears that, in north of Iran, there is no association between gastric cancer and diabetes, control drugs (including metformin), and other factors such as duration of diabetes or a family history of diabetes.