Cancer cells in the team: New study shows surprising nutrient cooperation!

Cancer cells in the team: New study shows surprising nutrient cooperation!

researchers from the United States and France showed that cancer cells can not only compete for nutrients, but also cooperate. These findings, which were published in the renowned journal "Nature", could mean a fundamental change in the understanding of tumor cells and their behavior in the tumor environment. The report on this study by Welt notes that the previous assumptions about the aggressive competition between cancer cells could be overtaken.

Under the direction of Carlos Carmona Fontaine from New York University, the team researched the growth of cancer cells using robot-controlled microscope and modern image analysis software. The researchers discovered that cancer cells in a state of amino acid deficiency, especially in the event of a lack of glutamine, cooperate. This leads to the formation of a common pool of nutrients, which significantly influences the survival of the cells in the tumor micro environment.

The role of oligopeptides and enzymes

The investigation showed that smaller cell populations hardly benefit from this cooperative behavior. Tumor cells release a special enzyme that splits oligopeptides into free amino acids. These small proteins consist of amino acid chains are an important source of food that helps the cancer cells to survive. The researchers tested the inhibition of this enzyme with the medication Bestatin, which significantly stopped tumor growth.

In addition, the gene scissors crispr was used to switch off the gene for the enzyme. This led to slowed tumor growth in mouse experiments, which indicates that a protein -reduced diet can increase the effect. The results open up new perspectives for innovative approaches in cancer treatment that could include a combination of enzyme inhibition and nutritional adjustments.

research efforts in lung uncology

In the case of non-small cell lung carcinomas, EGFR exon 20 insertions show a frequency of around 1-2 %. These types of cancer have a resistance to conventional EGFR inhibitors and immunotherapeutics and a poor forecast with an average overall survival of approx. 18 months. The study published in the specialist journal European Journal of Cancer finds that TP53-KO mutations affect the response and the probability of survival under EGFR inhibitor treatments.

The research illustrates how important interdisciplinary, cross -centrium cooperation is in cancer research. Michael Thomas, head of the oncology department in the Thorax Clinic, is listed in this important study as a final author, which emphasizes the importance of cooperation in the field of oncology. The NCT Heidelberg has founded a partner location in Dresden since 2015 and has founded the Hopp Kinderumorzentrum (Kitz) since 2017.

Interactive approaches in cancer research could help to develop targeted treatments and give the affected patients new hope. This underlines the positive development in cancer research, which increasingly puts individual therapeutic approaches in the foreground. Further information about the synergistic approaches in cancer treatment can also be found in the publications on orthomolecular.org