Belgium Researchers Discover New Way To Stop Metastasis By Preventing Cancer Cells From Accumulating Fat
Source: Thailand Medical News Jan 24, 2020 4 years, 10 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours, 6 minutes ago
Professor Dr Olivier Feron, an oncology researcher at the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research, in his research as to how understand how
metastases form from a tumor, had previously also demonstrated that the most aggressive
cancer cells use significant amounts of
lipids as energy sources. Now, Prof. Feron has discovered that
cancer cells store lipids in small intracellular vesicles called
lipid droplets.
Cancer cells loaded with
lipids are more invasive and therefore more likely to form
metastases. Prof. Feron and his team sought to identify the link between
lipid storage and
metastasization.
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Credit: University of Louvain
The research team has identified a factor called TGF-beta2 as the switch responsible for both
lipid storage and the aggressive nature of
cancer cells. Moreover, it appeared that the two processes were mutually reinforcing. In fact, by accumulating
lipids, more precisely, fatty acids that
cancer cells use to build up energy reserves, which they can then use as needed throughout their
metastatic course.
Medical researchers have known that the acidity of tumors promotes
cancer cells' invasion of healthy tissue. The process requires the detachment of the
cancer cell from its original anchor site and the ability to survive under such conditions, which are fatal to healthy cells.
The oncology researchers from University Of Louvain, Belgium have now demonstrated that this acidity promotes, via the same TGF-beta2 switch, the invasive potential and formation of
lipid droplets. These provide the invasive cells with the energy they need to move around and withstand the harsh conditions encountered during the
metastasization process. The researchers told
Thailand Medical News that it's like a mountaineer who takes the food and equipment necessary to reach the summit in spite of complex weather conditions.
Significantly, this UCLouvain research opens up new therapeutic avenues thanks to the discovery of the metabolic constituents involved in
metastasis. These actors can thus be targeted and combated. Prof. Feron and his team show that it is possible to reduce tumor invasiveness and prevent
metastases using specific inhibitors of TGF-beta2 expression, as well as compounds capable of blocking the transport of fatty acids or the formation of triglycerides. Among the latter are new drugs that are being evaluated to treat obesity.
Their indications could therefore be rapidly extended to counter the development of
ng>metastases, which is the major cause of death among cancer patients.
The research findings are published in Nature Communications.
Reference : Corbet, C., Bastien, E., Santiago de Jesus, J.P. et al. TGFβ2-induced formation of lipid droplets supports acidosis-driven EMT and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells. Nat Commun 11, 454 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-14262-3
