Targeting Fat to Treat Cancer
Fat isn’t just something we eat: it may lie at the heart of a new approach to treating cancer.
Cells create their own fat molecules to build critical cellular structures. Reuben Shaw’s lab, along with academic and industry collaborators, has found a way to obstruct this instrumental process to stifle cancer’s growth, detailed September 2016 in Nature Medicine. Like halting the delivery of supplies to a construction site, the approach stalls the molecular building blocks cancer needs to grow.
Researchers had previously hypothesized that interrupting cells’; lipid assembly line could disable cancer, but it was only recently that they were able to disrupt the process and test this theory. Shaw, first author Robert Svensson, and colleagues partnered with Nimbus Therapeutics to test a molecule that shuts off a critical player in lipid synthesis, an enzyme called Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase, or ACC.
In large-scale tests in animal models of cancer and in transplanted human lung cancer cells, the novel ACC inhibitor led to tumor masses shrinking by roughly two-thirds compared to untreated animals. And when the team paired this new drug with one of the common treatments for non-small lung cancer (carboplatin), the anti-tumor response was even greater: a dramatic 87 percent of tumors were suppressed, compared to 50 percent with the standard treatment alone, pointing to a promising drug candidate for lung cancer as well as liver and other types of cancer.
Read News ReleaseFeatured Stories
- Interaction + Infrastructure = Innovations in Healthy AgingSalk formula recalculates aging research, shifting focus to overall resilience and health span.
- Professor Jan Karlseder named Salk’s Chief Science OfficerOn February 1, Jan Karlseder started as Salk’s new senior vice president and chief science officer (CSO).
- Salk mourns the loss of Nobel Laureate Roger GuilleminThe Institute remembers the “father of neuroendocrinology” for his many contributions to science and friendship to all.
- Daniel Hollern–Turning a cancer diagnosis into a career in basic researchAssistant Professor Daniel Hollern pivoted his career trajectory after a family member’s life-changing diagnosis pushed his already-curious mind off a cliff of questions—starting with, “What can I do to help him?”
- Jerry Sheehan–Collaborating shoulder to shoulder with scientistsWhen you think about a person who heads an information technology department, you might not envision them working shoulder to shoulder with research scientists. But that’s exactly the approach Jerry Sheehan is taking as Salk’s new chief information officer (CIO).
- Laura Mainz–Taking control after a cancer diagnosisLaura Mainz grew up in a tiny village in midwestern Germany, with just as many cows as people. But the sweeping landscape speckled with farms never swayed her toward plant biology—instead, her interest in the human body grew.
- Black Association affinity group cultivates welcoming environmentThe Black Association at Salk (BAS) was one of the first affinity groups formed at Salk in 2020. Since that time, it has established itself as a welcoming space and go-to for resources for all Black Salk community members.