What does glioma eat?

Scientists have found out the causes of brain cancer

Alexander Kornev, Naked Science

Scientists from the British University of Newcastle have made a breakthrough in understanding the causes of the growth of a deadly brain tumor – as it turned out, glioma cells use fats for their growth.

According to Science Daily (Breakthrough in brain cancer research), university specialists have found that malignant glioma cells support their growth due to fats. Previously, it was believed that tumor cells conserve energy due to sugar. Glioma is one of the most difficult for the treatment of oncological diseases, it develops in about four people out of 100 thousand.

The study was conducted on both laboratory mice and human tissue samples donated by patients who underwent surgery. The results of the study are published in the journal Neuro-Oncology (Lin et al., Fatty acid oxidation is required for the respiration and proliferation of malignant glioma cells). According to scientists, their discovery will help in understanding the cell biology of this rare type of brain cancer and improve its treatment methods. "The prognosis of patients diagnosed with malignant glioma is now very poor, and it is important for us to increase their chances of survival. Most cells in the human brain require sugar to maintain activity. However, malignant glioma cells have a completely different metabolic strategy – they break down fats for their growth," explained the study's lead author, Dr. Elizabeth Stoll.

Scientists have already tested the effect of the irreversible inhibitor Etomoxir on glioma, which blocks the ability of cells to break down fats. Glioma grew much more slowly. "We tested Etomoxir on an animal model, the life expectancy after using the inhibitor increased by 17%," Dr. Stoll notes. Meanwhile, the scientists stressed that their study does not provide an answer to the logical question of whether a regular diet can fight glioma?

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  08.07.2016