"If lethal cancer is a disease of "accelerated aging" in the tumor's connective tissue, then cancer patients may benefit from therapy with strong antioxidants and anti-inflammatory drugs," said Dr. Lisanti. "Antioxidant therapy will "cut off the fuel supply" for cancer cells." Antioxidants also have a natural anti-inflammatory action.
Interestingly, cancer cells induce "oxidative stress," the rusting process, in normal connective tissue, in order to extract vital nutrients.
Interestingly, cancer cells induce "oxidative stress," the rusting process, in normal connective tissue, in order to extract vital nutrients.
Dr. Lisanti and his team previously discovered that cancer cells induce this type of stress response (autophagy) in nearby cells, to feed themselves and grow.
"What we see now is that as you age, your whole body becomes more sensitive to this parasitic cancer mechanism, and the cancer cells selectively accelerate the aging process via inflammation in the connective tissue.
In another study, the researchers explain that cancer cells initiate a "lactate shuttle" to move lactate -- the "food" -- from the connective tissue to the cancer cells. There's a transporter that is "spilling" lactate from the connective tissue and a transporter that then "gobbles" it up in the cancer cells."
The implication is that the fibroblasts in the connective tissue are feeding cancer cells directly via pumps, called MCT1 and MCT4, or mono-carboxylate transporters. The researchers see that lactate is like "candy" for cancer cells. And cancer cells are addicted to this supply of "candy."
It's all the same mechanism, where one cell type literally "feeds" the other. The cancer cells are the "Queen Bees," and the connective tissue cells are the "Worker Bees." In this analogy, the "Queen Bees" use aging and inflammation as the signal to tell the "Worker Bees" to make more foodhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110526152549.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment