Could the cure for cancer be… your own fat?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Cancer cells grow by stealing glucose and fatty acids from our bodies. What if we cut off their supply? Researchers at U-C San Francisco have developed a way to do just that.
The strategy? Re-engineer fat cells to overproduce U-C-P-1, an enzyme that boosts their metabolism. This forces fat cells to burn more energy, leaving less fuel available for hungry cancer cells. Tested on mice, tumors shrank up to eighty percent, and blood vessel growth dropped significantly.
Could this be the next frontier in cancer treatment? Researchers think this might be safer than chemotherapy.
Sounds like a fat chance for cancer! Donut party!
Reference: Nguyen, H.P., An, K., Ito, Y. et al. Implantation of engineered adipocytes suppresses tumor progression in cancer models. Nat Biotechnol (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-024-02551-2