Study record
Circulating levels of MOTS-c in patients with breast cancer treated with metformin
Cuyàs E, Verdura S, Martin-Castillo B et al. · Aging (Albany NY) · 2022
What this study reported
Measured circulating MOTS-c in paired sera from women with HER2-positive breast cancer randomised to a neoadjuvant regimen with or without metformin and reported no significant change in MOTS-c in either arm over the treatment period. Reported that changes in circulating MOTS-c also did not differ significantly between patients who did and did not achieve a pathological complete response.
Limitations
Sample size not stated in the abstract; secondary analysis of a trial not designed to test MOTS-c; reliance on a single commercial competitive ELISA of uncertain specificity; restricted to women with HER2-positive breast cancer receiving concurrent chemotherapy.
Study record
| Study model | Human observational |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | Endogenous MOTS-c measuredNaturally occurring MOTS-c was measured; nothing was given. |
| Species | human |
| System studied | Paired baseline and post-treatment sera from women with HER2-positive breast cancer randomised to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab with or without metformin |
| Population | Women with HER2-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab |
| Design | Randomised metformin trial; circulating MOTS-c measured as a secondary analysis |
| Sample size as reported | Not reported |
| Control group | Patients receiving the equivalent neoadjuvant regimen without metformin |
| Route (data field only) | Not reported |
| Endpoints measured | circulating MOTS-c by competitive ELISA; pathological complete response |
| Pathways measured | AMPK signalling · Folate cycle / purines / AICAR |
| Research areas | Cancer · Metabolic |
| Evidence tier | B — Other human study |
| Publication types | Randomized Controlled Trial, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Appraisal
Each dimension is recorded separately and never combined into a single score. A study can be well controlled and still tell you little about people.
- Relevance to MOTS-c
- Direct
- Model applicability
- Human
- Sample size
- Not reported
- Controls
- Appropriate
- Outcome validity
- Surrogate
- Support for its own conclusion
- Moderate
Provenance
- Bibliographic fields retrieved from PubMed E-utilities efetch (title, journal, date, authors, DOI) on 2026-11-11.
- Annotated from the published abstract.
- Editorial review: approved (2026-11-11).
- Classification follows the site methodology; the record describes the study, not what MOTS-c does in people.