Disruption of Energy Pathway in Cancer Cells May Herald Innovative Therapeutics

In that solid tumors, such as those characteristic of glioblastoma, a type of aggressive primary brain cancer glioblastoma, become resistant to cell death partly as a result of altered energy pathways in the cancer cells, Evangelos Michelakis, from  the University of Alberta (Canada), and colleagues studied whether targeting the energy metabolism in cancer cells could modulate the disease progression. Previously, scientists have shown that cancer cells derive their energy primarily via glycolysis, which utilizes large amounts of glucose.  The researchers administered dichloroacetate (DCA), a drug, to five study subjects with glioblastoma, postulating that DCA might disable the mitochondrial enzyme involved in glycolysis.  The tumors stopped growing in four of the subjects, and in one case, the cancer cells disappeared completely.   Four of the five participants were alive 18 months later, three-times the average survival time following radiation/traditional drug treatment.  Side effects were minimal. The team concludes that: “Metabolic modulation may be a viable therapeutic approach in the treatment of glioblastoma.”