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Fat cells "feed" cancer
Last reviewed: 16.05.2018
In one recent study, experts found that cancer cells need food, and they feed on fat cells. To such conclusions scientists came after a series of experiments with laboratory rodents, in addition, it was found that the blocking of a certain substance helps stop the spread of metastases throughout the body.
Scientists noted that healthy cells should remain in their place in the tissues, otherwise they trigger a self-destruct mechanism. But cancer cells can constantly move around the body and form new and new tumors. For a long time, experts from different countries have tried to find out what facilitates the movement of cancer cells through the vessels, since this process is quite energy-consuming.
The study was conducted at the University of Barcelona, where specialists have discovered how cancer cells are "fueled" during their "travel" through blood vessels. In their report, they noted that some types of cancer cells can produce CD 36, a special substance that provides them with the nutrition of fat molecules from the nearest cells. In the course of the experiments, scientists have established that if the CD 36 is blocked, the metastases cease to spread throughout the body, in addition, it inhibits the development of those metastases that have already entered the circulatory system.
Analyzing the medical database, the researchers found that the active manifestation of CD 36 occurred often in cancer of the bladder, mammary glands, lungs and other organs. Now a team of scientists from the University of Barcelona is trying to find antibodies to CD 36, which will help in the treatment of cancer. The first results specialists expect to receive after 4 years. Even in their study, scientists found that the relationship between fat intake and the size and rate of cancer spread across the body is traced in rodents, and they now intend to establish whether such a relationship exists in humans, for which a large-scale study is organized.
In the work, scientists are helped by a multitude of patients diagnosed with cancer, but until the research is completed, scientists do not recommend people with oncology to exclude fats from their diet.
Recently in the US, a team of specialists found that the sun's rays can destroy cancer cells and the results of this work were published in one of the scientific journals.
At the University of California, a group of scientists conducted a scientific experiment on human cancer cells that were taken from one of the patients who agreed to participate in the scientific work. Cells of scientists were divided into 2 parts, one of which was exposed to visible light, and the second - solar. As a result, in the second part the division of cancer cells significantly decreased. The researchers themselves note that sunlight contributes to the formation of unnecessary fragments in the genetic sequence of cancer cells, which blocked their ability to reproduce.
Scientists from California are confident that their work will help find new ways to fight cancer.