Researchers at The Centenary Institute in Sydney, Australia have discovered a potential future treatment for prostate cancer — through starving the tumour cells of an essential nutrient they need to grow rapidly. Each year about 3,300 Australian men die of prostate cancer. It’s Australia’s second worst cancer killer for men, matching the impact of breast cancer on women.
Growing prostate cancer cells need an essential nutrient, the amino acid called leucine, which is pumped into the cell by specialised proteins. And this could be prostate cancer’s weak link.
The team at the Centenary Institute found, in a study to be published this month in Cancer Research, that prostate cancer cells have more pumps than normal. This allows the cancer cells to take in more leucine and outgrow normal cells.
Dr Holst says one of the other spin-offs of the discovery is a better understanding of the links between prostate cancer and eating foods high in leucine which include meat and poultry, seafood and dairy. Read more
