Empagliflozin: a potential anticancer drug

Empagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, is a highly effective and well-tolerated antidiabetic drug. In addition to hypoglycemic effects, empagliflozin has many other effects, such as being hypotensive and cardioprotective. It also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidative stress effects in diabetic nephropathy. Several studies have shown that empagliflozin has anticancer effects. SGLT2 is expressed in a variety of cancer cell lines. The SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin has significant inhibitory effects on certain types of tumor cells, such as inhibition of proliferation, migration and induction of apoptosis. In conclusion, empagliflozin has promising applications in cancer therapy as a drug for the treatment of diabetes and heart failure. This article provides a brief review of the anticancer effects of empagliflozin.