Stop recycling cells to treat cancer

Recycling cans and bottles is a good habit. It helps keep the earth clean.

The same is true for intracellular recycling in the body. Each cell has a way to wipe out waste products in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. This “cell recycling” is called autophagy.

Targeting and modifying this process can help control or alleviate specific cancers. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati now show that stopping this process altogether in a highly aggressive form of breast cancer may one day improve patient outcomes.

These results are published in the February 8th print edition of the journal. Developing cells..

“Autophagy is like a kind of cell cannibalism,” said corresponding author, Professor Francis Brunning, and Dr. Jun-Lin Guan, UC’s Chair of Cancer Biology. “They eat their nasty ingredients and come out strong and undamaged, but they don’t want the cancer cells that do this to create a stronger and healthier version of themselves. Previous studies have found that disabling this process slows the growth of another type of breast, but blocking autophagy is a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer known as HER2-positive breast cancer. It was unclear if it would be beneficial to. “

This type of breast cancer grows rapidly and there are effective treatments, but unfortunately these particular cancer cells become refractory to treatment and find ways to lead to recurrence and increased mortality in patients. I will.

Researchers in this study used an animal model to show that blocking autophagy eliminated the development and growth of this type of breast cancer “significantly compared to previous studies of other types of breast cancer.” “It was,” said Guan, a member of the UC. Cancer Center.

He added that researchers found that blocking this activity could completely influence other activities and mechanisms within cancer cells, altering their role and response.

“It changed the transport pattern of the HER2 protein after it was produced by cancer cells,” he continues. “Instead of being placed in a” normal “position on the cell surface to cause the development of cancer, it is incorporated into a pouch filled with several small fluids known as vesicles and secreted by the tumor. cell.. “

Guan states that these findings are particularly important as they show that the potential treatments for this type are quite different. milk It is a cancer and may function as a combination therapy with current treatments to prevent resistance and recurrence.

“It will be more difficult cancer cell To develop a way around two different ways of being blocked, “he adds. “Future clinical studies will be needed to validate the treatment of human patients. Also, the HER2 protein plays a role in several other cancers, including lung and stomach. [stomach] And because of prostate cancer, future research needs to see if this new mechanism is also beneficial in the treatment of these cancers.

“This study really demonstrates the value of basic research to defeat future cancers. Such breakthroughs can result from curiosity-based research, which can one day help people. You will make amazing discoveries. “

Guan’s lab postdoc, Ming ang Hao, Ph.D. The lead author of the study states that he was working on two separate cancer research projects at the same time, but this study spreads the “bubble” of vesicles or cancer.

“There are so many complex twists and turns in cancer research, many of which can be interrelated, even in small ways,” says Hao. “Working with the UC team has shown us some really innovative ways to tackle this disease. What we learned in one lab was applied to research in another and finally It can help you find a solution to this dreaded illness. “

Co-author Kevin Turner, MD, a resident of the UC Surgical Department, wrote in his study of this science cancer Development and dissemination to better treat patients.

“As a surgical trainee planning to pursue a career in Surgical oncologyThe opportunity to work in a science lab with Dr. Guan and his team gave me a deeper understanding of the workings of the disease I saw in patients, “he says. “I would like to continue my research on this, in order to work on clinical trials and apply it to patients.”