PTEN and Mtor

[paige20180]

I have read that PTEN loss inhibits AKT and mTOR which allows tumors to grow.

Foundation One says that is you have PTEN loss you should consider Everolimus, and Temsirolimus because they are mTOR inhibitors.

I put together last night that Metformin is now known to be a mTOR inhibitor "Metformin activates the AMPK pathway through LKB1 eventually causing inhibition of the mTOR pathway thus a reduction in protein synthesis and cellular proliferation. Metformin also appears to indirectly reduce AKT causing inhibition of mTOR pathway."

Am I over simplifying that Metformin may be helping PTEN loss carriers since it's now known to be a mTOR inhibitor?

My husbands urologist looked shocked today when I told him what I had read about PTEN and mTOR inhibitors and made a comment to the effect "If the drug companies only knew there is a .20 cent cancer drug."

I have zero medical training and my worst grade in college was in biology lol. Thought I'd put this out to the brilliant people and get their thoughts and check me on my research. Thanks all!

[Tall_Allen]

All kinds of curious things occur in lab studies. But why not take some metformin? It is sure to be less effective than the prescription mTor inhibitors (like rapamycin, everolimus and temserolimus), but also less toxic (these medicines tend to be very toxic).

cancerpreventionresearch.aa...

They don't work well as monotherapies, but may augment the effect of chemo and other agents:

clinical-genitourinary-canc...

There is a clinical trial at UWashington Seattle of an MTor inhibitor combined with chemo:

clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...

But a recent trial found no extra benefit, but extra toxicity, to a combo:

clinical-genitourinary-canc...

[paige20180 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks TA. We are definitely adding metformin.

[Captain_Dave]

If you want to increase AMPK there are a lot of natural things:

Green Tea, Curcumin, Fish Oil, CoQ10, Quercetin, Exercise, and many others.

Link: selfhacked.com/blog/natural...

Also, if you are going to take metformin, at least be aware there is info out there about how it can reduce your B12 levels.

[paige20180 in reply to Captain_Dave]

Thanks! Doing those things and got the scoop on B12. Appreciate the info!

[j-o-h-n]

My worst subject is cancer 101...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Saturday 09/21/2019 8:59 PM DST