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Experimental Drug Uses Cancer's Favorite Fuel Against It
Cancer cells have a voracious appetite for sugar - using it to fuel their rapid growth. This is why many scientists have tried to develop drugs that block cancer cells’ metabolism by cutting off their sugar supply. In a study published in Nature Chemical Biology, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin demonstrated a fundamentally different approach to targeting cancer metabolism. Instead of starving cancer cells, they trick them into consuming even more sugar than usual. Then, at the same time, the drug blocks their backup fuel source - fat. By attacking both fuel sources at once, the experimental drug puts cancer cells under so much stress that many of them die. They demonstrated the drug’s effectiveness at treating an aggressive form of melanoma in mice. “I like to think of this technology like a two-headed dragon,” said Xiaolu (Lulu) Lim Ang Cambronne, an associate professor of molecular biosciences at UT and co-corresponding author. “We are putting one part of the cell into overdrive while simultaneously weakening another part. It appears to be extremely potent.” In lab experiments, the drug was effective against several types of human cancer cells, including melanoma, leukemia, breast cancer, lung...
