A new study led by The Wistar Institute in the United States has revealed a surprising link between a common dietary sugar, fructose, and the spread of aggressive ovarian cancer. Published in the journal Nature Aging, the study indicates that cancer cells that survive chemotherapy can communicate with neighboring tumor cells, making them more prone to metastasis, and fructose is one of the chemical messages released by these cells. This finding reveals a previously unknown pathway explaining how cancer cells remaining after treatment contribute to cancer spread.
"Some cancer cells that survive chemotherapy are no longer dividing, but they are still biologically active," said Aidan Cole, first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at The Wistar Institute. "They continue to release molecules that send signals to neighboring cells. Our study is the first to show that a nutrient—in this case, fructose—can serve as such a signal." This finding challenges the previous view that cells remaining after chemotherapy are merely "dormant," showing that they are in fact actively involved in the subsequent development of cancer.
Ovarian cancer is one of the gynecological cancers with an extremely high mortality rate. The vast majority of patients respond well initially to platinum-based chemotherapy, but most eventually relapse, and cancer cells often spread to the abdominal cavity; metastasis is the cause of death in about ninety percent of ovarian cancer patients. The research team designed experiments to separate chemotherapy-surviving cells from the substances they secrete, and then exposed other cancer cells to these substances. The results showed that these secreted substances alone were sufficient to significantly enhance the spreading ability of cancer cells. Cole noted: "To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration in a preclinical model that it is the molecules released by these cells—rather than the cells themselves—that drive cancer spread."
Further analysis showed that chemotherapy-surviving cells produce fructose and use it as a signal to prompt neighboring cells to metastasize. The team also found that dietary fructose at levels equivalent to the high content in sugary drinks can promote cancer spread even without chemotherapy. This result raises the conjecture that dietary habits may influence cancer progression, especially since fructose consumption is very high in the United States, and high-fructose corn syrup can account for 8% to 20% of some people's daily calorie intake. Unlike many risk factors that cannot be changed, fructose intake can be reduced through dietary choices. Although the study has not yet confirmed that reducing fructose intake improves patient prognosis, this finding suggests that nutrition may play a previously overlooked role in cancer progression.
The research team also explored how fructose helps cancer cells escape, finding that fructose affects cell adhesion mechanisms, making tumor cells more likely to detach from the primary site. In addition, because fructose metabolism is related to the cholesterol synthesis pathway, the study also suggests that cholesterol-lowering drugs may interfere with this signaling, but none of these effects have yet been confirmed in patients. For readers seeking conventional assisted reproductive treatment, although this study is not directly related, it reminds us that diet and the body's metabolic state may have profound effects on overall health; maintaining a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle is an important foundation for any medical decision and postoperative recovery.
Source: ScienceDaily. This article is a compiled report for general informational reference.
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News | Common sugars may help cancer cells escape and spread: new findings from a study on ovarian cancer after chemotherapy
A new study led by The Wistar Institute in the United States has revealed a surprising link between a common dietary sugar, fructose, and the spread of aggressive ovarian cancer. Published in the journal Nature Aging, the study indicates that cancer cells that survive chemotherapy can communicate with neighboring tumor cells, making them more prone to metastasis, and fructose is one of the chemical messages released by these cells. This finding reveals a previously unknown pathway explaining how cancer cells remaining after treatment contribute to cancer spread.
"Some cancer cells that survive chemotherapy are no longer dividing, but they are still biologically active," said Aidan Cole, first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at The Wistar Institute. "They continue to release molecules that send signals to neighboring cells. Our study is the first to show that a nutrient—in this case, fructose—can serve as such a signal." This finding challenges the previous view that cells remaining after chemotherapy are merely "dormant," showing that they are in fact actively involved in the subsequent development of cancer.
Ovarian cancer is one of the gynecological cancers with an extremely high mortality rate. The vast majority of patients respond well initially to platinum-based chemotherapy, but most eventually relapse, and cancer cells often spread to the abdominal cavity; metastasis is the cause of death in about ninety percent of ovarian cancer patients. The research team designed experiments to separate chemotherapy-surviving cells from the substances they secrete, and then exposed other cancer cells to these substances. The results showed that these secreted substances alone were sufficient to significantly enhance the spreading ability of cancer cells. Cole noted: "To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration in a preclinical model that it is the molecules released by these cells—rather than the cells themselves—that drive cancer spread."
Further analysis showed that chemotherapy-surviving cells produce fructose and use it as a signal to prompt neighboring cells to metastasize. The team also found that dietary fructose at levels equivalent to the high content in sugary drinks can promote cancer spread even without chemotherapy. This result raises the conjecture that dietary habits may influence cancer progression, especially since fructose consumption is very high in the United States, and high-fructose corn syrup can account for 8% to 20% of some people's daily calorie intake. Unlike many risk factors that cannot be changed, fructose intake can be reduced through dietary choices. Although the study has not yet confirmed that reducing fructose intake improves patient prognosis, this finding suggests that nutrition may play a previously overlooked role in cancer progression.
The research team also explored how fructose helps cancer cells escape, finding that fructose affects cell adhesion mechanisms, making tumor cells more likely to detach from the primary site. In addition, because fructose metabolism is related to the cholesterol synthesis pathway, the study also suggests that cholesterol-lowering drugs may interfere with this signaling, but none of these effects have yet been confirmed in patients. For readers seeking conventional assisted reproductive treatment, although this study is not directly related, it reminds us that diet and the body's metabolic state may have profound effects on overall health; maintaining a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle is an important foundation for any medical decision and postoperative recovery.
Source: ScienceDaily. This article is a compiled report for general informational reference.