Researchers led by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), report a new approach that deprived tumors of nutrition in cancer models, and may one day lead to a new approach that can be further developed and personalized for specific cancers and patients.
Their findings are published in Nature Biotechnology in an article titled, “Implantation of engineered adipocytes suppresses tumor progression in cancer models.”
The team of researchers used the gene editing technology CRISPR to convert white fat cells into “beige” fat cells and then implanted the cells in mice models of breast and pancreatic cancer. The researchers observed that the engineered fat cells outcompeted tumors for nutrients and reduced cancer progression.
“Tumors exhibit an increased ability to obtain and metabolize…