This cancer treatment obstructs the lipogenesis metabolic pathways in cancerous cells, directly inhibiting tumor growth with minimal side effects. A variety of cancerous cells, including those responsible for breast, prostate, and colon cancers, depend on increased lipogenesis to supply lipids for rapid cell proliferation and tumor growth. Compounds that inhibit this function, therefore, could have broad therapeutic application. Cancer is the second leading cause of death the United States, according to the CDC. As the number of people suffering from cancer increases, analysts project the global cancer therapeutics market to grow to $182 billion by 2023 . The conventional cancer treatment is chemotherapy, but this also damages healthy cells and causes many side effects. Targeted therapy allows for customized treatment and less harm to healthy cells, but further research is necessary to understand the broader effects of targeting intracellular metabolic pathways.
Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered a cancer therapeutic that inhibits tumor growth by targeting the cell lipogenesis pathway. Cancer cells need lipids for proliferation and communication with neighboring cells. This peptide drug impairs lipid synthesis and shows anti-cancer activity against a variety of cancer types in vitro and in vivo using mouse cancer models.
Peptide drug that inhibits cancer growth for the treatment of various types of cancer
This first-of-its-kind peptide inhibits de novo lipogenesis in cells to prevent tumor growth in vivo. Lipogenesis is a major metabolic pathway that is elevated in cancer cells and helps drive tumor growth. The short peptide impairs expression of key lipogenic regulators to attenuate the growth of tumors. Experimental results indicate an anti-cancer effect in vivo, establishing a class of therapeutics against various cancers including breast, colon, and prostate cancers.
