Cervical cancer is among the most common malignancies worldwide. A significant proportion of patients present with locally advanced disease (FIGO stage IB-IVA) that is treated with chemoradiotherapy with curative intent. Tumor hypoxia is associated with poor response to radiotherapy; despite advances in radiotherapy techniques, many women with cervical cancer develop recurrence. The authors previously demonstrated that metformin can decrease tumor hypoxia and consequently increase radiation response in vivo. Here, Han and colleagues present data from a phase II, window-of-opportunity trial that investigated if metformin decreased tumor hypoxia in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. In this trial that selected for patients with hypoxic tumor, metformin decreased cervical tumor hypoxia without significant toxicity. The additional FAZA-PET scans and tumor biopsies limited study accrual, and more pragmatic ways of measuring and selecting tumor hypoxia are needed for future studies.
Poor-risk cytogenetics are associated with inferior outcomes in patients with AML treated...
