--- title: How DPP-4 Diabetes Drugs Can Spread Tumors description: There’s growing evidence suggesting a connection between diabetes and cancer, and the latest study pulls out the role that anti-diabetes medications may play canonical: https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-13T18:00:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:53.421Z article:section: Health og:title: This Diabetes Drug Promotes Tumor Spread In Mice: Study og:description: There’s growing evidence suggesting a connection between diabetes and cancer, and the latest study pulls out the role that anti-diabetes medications may play og:url: https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Diabetes Drug Promotes Tumor Spread In Mice: Study twitter:description: There’s growing evidence suggesting a connection between diabetes and cancer, and the latest study pulls out the role that anti-diabetes medications may play twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # These Diabetes Drugs Promote Tumor Spread in Mice: Study > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Meet the Father and Son Behind a Diabetes Device With Life-Changing Potential [Watch (HLS stream): Meet the Father and Son Behind a Diabetes Device With Life-Changing Potential](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fRBp0U3q.m3u8) (2:56)  _Published 2015-09-29. While it's not a cure for diabetes, it could prove to be the next best thing._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Apr 13, 2016 6:00 PM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Apr 13, 2016 6:00 PM UTC More studies are finding a higher rate of certain cancers, such as breast, colon and liver, among people with diabetes. Some of the research focuses on the drugs used to treat diabetes, since they regulate insulin and growth factors that are also involved in tumor growth. In an animal [study published in _Science Translational Medicine_](http://stm.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.aad6095), researchers report that antioxidants in some diabetes drugs may be responsible for spreading tumors. The study was conducted in mice, but it points to a possible mechanism to explain why cancer rates are higher among certain people with diabetes. Antioxidants are typically recommended to prevent cancer, since they fight the free radicals that can trigger tumor growth. But in this case, say the study authors, the protection from further oxidative stress—which is what antioxidants do—may actually insulate cancer cells, making it easier for them to spread to other parts of the body. Hongting Zheng, from Xinqiau Hospital and the Third Military Medical University, says that the drugs, belonging to the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor class—there is a list of [FDA approved DPP-4 inhibitors here](http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm459579.htm)—did not increase the formation of new cancers, but did promote the spread of existing colon and liver tumors in the mice studied. Zheng said in email to TIME that the effect may also be more pronounced among certain people with genetic predisposition to the effects of oxidation. All the more reason that “understanding the effects of antidiabetic agents on tumor biology is indispensable for the development of specialized drug therapy that is safe for treating diabetic patients with cancer.” For now, he says, these drugs that contain antioxidant properties “may need to be administered with caution in diabetic patients with existing cancer.” More research will be needed to determine which people should or shouldn’t be taking these medications. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/"},"headline":"These Diabetes Drugs Promote Tumor Spread in Mice: Study","datePublished":"2016-04-13T18:00:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:53.421Z","description":"Antioxidants in the pills may be to blame","url":"https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/","keywords":["Cancer","health","diabetes"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/","name":"These Diabetes Drugs Promote Tumor Spread in Mice: Study"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Meet the Father and Son Behind a Diabetes Device With Life-Changing Potential","description":"While it's not a cure for diabetes, it could prove to be the next best thing.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fRBp0U3q/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-29T14:58:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fRBp0U3q.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/","duration":"PT2M56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4292316/diabetes-dpp-4-cancer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```