We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




New Class of Chemotherapeutic Drugs Targets the Warburg Effect

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 16 Aug 2011
Print article
Image: Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of cancer cells (pink) from a kidney tumor (Photo courtesy of David McCarthy / SPL).
Image: Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of cancer cells (pink) from a kidney tumor (Photo courtesy of David McCarthy / SPL).
A new approach to cancer chemotherapy takes advantage of the Warburg effect, a metabolic phenomenon that occurs in tumors but not in normal tissues.

The Warburg effect is the observation that most cancer cells predominantly produce energy by a high rate of glycolysis followed by lactic acid fermentation in the cytosol, rather than by a comparatively low rate of glycolysis followed by oxidation of pyruvate in mitochondria like most normal cells. Malignant rapidly growing tumor cells typically have glycolytic rates that are up to 200 times higher than those of their normal tissues of origin do; this occurs even if oxygen is plentiful.

Investigators at Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA, USA) searched for candidate drugs to target the Warburg effect the drives cancer cell growth and proliferation. To this end, they used high-throughput screening techniques to evaluate a library of 64,000 synthetic chemical compounds for the ability to block the Warburg effect and cause the death of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tumor cells. About 80% of RCCs have a mutation that causes the loss of the von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene, which contributes to their dependence on the Warburg effect.

The investigators reported in the August 3, 2011, online edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine that they had identified a class of compounds, the 3-series, exemplified by STF-31, which selectively killed RCCs by specifically targeting glucose uptake through inhibition of the protein glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and exploiting the unique dependence of these cells on GLUT1 for survival.

In a mouse kidney-cancer model, STF-31 nearly halved the amount of glucose imported by tumors and slowed tumor growth. In mice, the drug appeared to have few side effects, and animals treated with the compound for 14 days had no apparent damage to their normal tissues. The mice maintained a normal immune system and normal numbers of blood cells.

“This study demonstrates an approach for selectively inhibiting the ability of cancer cells to take up glucose, which is a pretty powerful way of killing those cells,” said senior author Dr. Amato Giaccia, professor of radiation oncology at Stanford University. “Most normal tissues in the body do not possess this mutation, so a drug that targets this vulnerability should be very specific for cancer cells.”

Related Links:

Stanford University




New
Gold Member
Rotavirus Test
Rotavirus Test - 30003 – 30073
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Respiratory QC Panel
Assayed Respiratory Control Panel
New
Silver Member
Total Hemoglobin Monitoring System
GREENCARE Hb

Print article

Channels

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel
Image: Researcher Kanta Horie places a sample in a mass spectrometer that measures protein levels in blood plasma and other fluids (Photo courtesy of WashU Medicine)

Highly Accurate Blood Test Diagnoses Alzheimer’s and Measures Dementia Progression

Several blood tests are currently available to assist doctors in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in individuals experiencing cognitive symptoms. However, these tests do not provide insights into the clinical... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The findings were based on patients from the ADAURA clinical trial of the targeted therapy osimertinib for patients with NSCLC with EGFR-activated mutations (Photo courtesy of YSM Multimedia Team)

Post-Treatment Blood Test Could Inform Future Cancer Therapy Decisions

In the ongoing advancement of personalized medicine, a new study has provided evidence supporting the use of a tool that detects cancer-derived molecules in the blood of lung cancer patients years after... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: Schematic representation illustrating the key findings of the study (Photo courtesy of UNIST)

Breakthrough Diagnostic Technology Identifies Bacterial Infections with Almost 100% Accuracy within Three Hours

Rapid and precise identification of pathogenic microbes in patient samples is essential for the effective treatment of acute infectious diseases, such as sepsis. The fluorescence in situ hybridization... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.