INS and cancer: On the other hand, although an initial report from the MA.32 trial has shown that, irrespective of the initial degree of insulin resistance in eligible non-diabetic women, metformin significantly improves metabolic parameters such as insulin and glucose at 6 months [4], it is commonly argued that the magnitude of such changes is small and may not be sufficient to alleviate the potential mitogenic and anti-apoptotic effects of insulin on occult or known cancers in patients without metabolic dysregulation.