Studies have shown that cancer cell energy metabolism is absolutely dependent on fatty acids.
The National Cancer Center announced on the 8th that the cancer metabolism research team consisting of Dr. Ho Lee, Sang-myung Woo, Hyun-cheol Jang, and Su-yeol Kim, has proven through experiments that all cancer cells use fatty acids differently from normal cells in the metabolic process. The research team explained that it was the result of a study that established a new concept for cancer cell-specific metabolism and laid the foundation for the development of anticancer drugs.
As a result of the study, it was found that normal cells use glucose mainly for energy metabolism, but cancer cells use fatty acids exclusively and use oxygen in mitochondria to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
The research team also confirmed the fact that when fatty acids are blocked in the presence of glucose, ATP drops sharply and only cancer cells die.
In addition, in an animal experiment using a mouse cancer model, cancer growth was found to be five times higher in the high-fat diet than in the low-fat (high-carbohydrate) diet, even with the same total calories.
The research team named this research result the ‘Kim effect’ because it was a research result compared to the ‘Warburg effect’, which is the basis of cancer metabolism.
While the Warburg effect, which is the basis of cancer metabolism, is limited to anabolic metabolism, this study is different from existing theories by discovering that the catabolic metabolism of cancer absolutely depends only on fatty acids. Anabolic metabolism is a metabolic process that synthesizes macromolecules from small molecules. Catabolic metabolism is a reaction that breaks down complex and large substances into simple and small substances.
Dr. Warberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1931 for his discovery of the Warburg effect, which states that all tumors use glucose to make lactic acid.
The research team is also preparing a clinical trial for an anticancer strategy that inhibits fatty acid oxidation in pancreatic cancer. In addition, he will be invited as an oral presenter to the Keystone Symposia to be held in the United States on September 5 and will disclose the results of this research and clinical research plans.
Dr. Kim (Chief Researcher, Department of Cancer Molecular Biology), who led this study, said, “The results of this study, which proved that cancer cell metabolism is a different mechanism from that of normal cells, suggest that blocking fat burning has a clinical benefit in cancer treatment. It will serve as a basis for breaking through the limits of treatment,” he said.
He also said, “We hope that the results of this research will contribute to the development of new anticancer drugs and treatments that regulate fat metabolism.”
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the international scientific journal Seminars in Cancer Biology. published the results of this study.