Metformin has recently been shown to have a protective effect on the primary development of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) among a large population of type II diabetics in Taiwan. 1 This raises the question of whether metformin can reduce recurrences of NMSCs in patients with a history of NMSC. Our study did not reveal a decreased risk of developing a second NMSC over the 3-year period for type II diabetic patients on metformin compared to diabetics not on metformin (43.2 and 40.0%, respectively). Due to significantly higher daily aspirin use in diabetics without metformin compared to diabetics on metformin and nondiabetics (40.5, 20.0, and 15.3% respectively, IP i= 0.005), we re-analyzed the risk of developing a secondary NMSC while controlling for daily aspirin use.[Extracted from the article]

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