Dr. Giorgia Zadra and her team at Harvard Medical School were on a mission to uncover the hidden villains in the world of cancer. What they found was startling: the food we eat could be conspiring with our genes to fuel prostate cancer.
Dr. Zadra’s team focused on prostate cancer, a common threat to men’s health. They used a special mouse model called Hi-MYC, which mimics the human form of this cancer.
These mice were split into two groups: one group was fed a normal diet, while the other was given a high-fat diet rich in saturated fats. The results were dramatic.
The high-fat diet acted like a double agent. It didn’t just make the mice fatter; it also turbocharged a gene called MYC, known to drive cancer growth.
This deadly duo triggered a metabolic switch in the cancer cells, pushing them to produce more lactate. You might recognize lactate as the stuff that makes your muscles sore after a workout, but here, it was up to no good.
The excess lactate created a perfect storm inside the tumors. It attracted certain immune cells that usually help fight infections but, in this case, were tricked into protecting the cancer.
These cells, including tumor-associated macrophages and regulatory T cells, made the tumor environment even more hostile.
The story doesn’t end there. The lactate also helped the cancer cells build new blood vessels, giving them more oxygen and nutrients to grow faster and stronger. This process, known as neoangiogenesis, is like a city’s infrastructure expanding to support a booming population.
But every good detective story has a twist. The researchers tested a drug called FX11, which blocks lactate production. When given to the mice, this drug slowed down the cancer’s progress, showing a glimmer of hope in the fight against prostate cancer.
Dr. Zadra’s study didn’t just stay in the lab. They looked at human data too. Men with prostate cancer who consumed a high-fat diet and had higher body mass index (BMI) showed similar patterns in their tumors. The lactate levels in these patients were linked to faster cancer recurrence and worse outcomes.
This research reveals a crucial lesson: our diet can influence cancer’s behavior. High-fat foods and obesity can work together with our genes to accelerate cancer growth. But by understanding these connections, we can develop new strategies, like dietary changes and targeted therapies, to combat this deadly disease.
So, next time you’re deciding what to eat, remember this story. The choices we make every day can be powerful tools in our fight against cancer.
