April 26, 2024

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Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers

Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers



 

Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers.


Cancer is a wasting disease, and patients with advanced cancer often appear extremely emaciated and skeleton-like.


The unrestricted growth, proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells require a large amount of glucose to provide energy for aerobic glycolysis . Directly blocking the glycolytic pathway and reducing the energy supply of tumor cells is a therapeutic strategy.


But today I want to introduce another method, which is not only simple, convenient, and affordable (compared to drugs), but can even be done at home.


Recently published in the journal Nature, a study by researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, proved that brown adipocytes in the body are activated by low temperature to consume energy and produce heat, and compete with tumor cells for glucose, making the tumor Cells are “available without sugar”, which can inhibit the growth of various tumors and prolong the survival of cancer-bearing mice.

In human trials, low temperature therapy at 22°C has also demonstrated its therapeutic potential. 

Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers

 

Mice subcutaneously implanted with colorectal cancer tumor cells were placed in environments of 30°C and 4°C respectively.

Compared with mice with tumors in an environment of 30°C, the tumor growth rate of mice in an environment of 4°C was significantly inhibited .

The proportion of proliferating cells in tumor tissue was lower, and the overall survival time of tumor mice was doubled.

 

Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers



In addition to colorectal cancer, in mice with other cancer types including fibrosarcoma, breast cancer, melanoma, and even the “king of cancer” pancreatic cancer, low temperature can inhibit the growth of these tumors, indicating that “low temperature therapy” is suitable for Various cancers.


To prove that low temperature stimulates brown adipose tissue to compete with tumor cells for glucose, the most direct method is to use PET-CT to display the whereabouts of glucose in mice .

It can be seen that at 4°C, a large amount of glucose accumulates in the brown adipose area of ​​mice , while the glucose uptake in the tumor area was significantly decreased.


Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers

 

Not only that, under low temperature conditions, glycolysis-related metabolites in mouse tumor tissue decreased, while glycolysis-related metabolites increased in brown adipose tissue, adipose tissue showed a small multi-locular structure, mitochondrial content and microvessel density The increased activation performance further illustrates that brown adipose tissue is activated at low temperature, which can compete with tumor tissue for glucose and inhibit tumor cell glycolysis.

Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers

 

When the brown adipose tissue of tumor mice was excised, or the UCP1 gene, which is critical for brown fat thermogenesis, was removed, the effect of low temperature on tumor growth disappeared, confirming that the key to low temperature tumor suppression lies in brown fat thermogenesis .


Or during hypothermia treatment, the tumor mice were supplemented with 15% glucose solution. At this time, although the brown fat was also diligently ingesting glucose, the tumor tissue also got a share in the case of glucose oversupply, and the hypothermia tumor suppression failed. , once again emphasized the importance of limiting the uptake of glucose by tumor cells and “not allowing tumor tissues to taste a little bit of sweetness”. (Keep your mouth shut when the air conditioner is blowing)


 

 

Finally, and the question that everyone is most concerned about, can “low temperature therapy” be used on humans? The researchers conducted an initial small human trial attempt, recruiting six healthy men and women aged 22-25, and an 18-year-old Hodgkin’s lymphoma patient who had undergone chemotherapy.


Six healthy adults wore T-shirts and shorts, and stayed in an environment of 16°C for 2-6 hours a day for 14 days.

PET-CT showed that the brown fat in the neck, parasternal region and bilateral clavicles of these young people was gradually increasing.

“Burning”, although there are still some individual differences in the degree of fat burning of each person, but this at least shows that brown fat in healthy adults can be activated at 16°C (fortunately, it is not 4°C).

 

In the only cancer patient, the researchers performed a more gentle “low temperature treatment” at 22°C for 7 days, and the results were quite encouraging: the patient’s brown fat area was activated and glucose uptake increased , while the glucose signal at the site of mediastinal lymphoma was significantly reduced.

 

 

In general, in a low temperature environment (such as 22°C) that most people can tolerate, activating brown adipose tissue to rob tumors of glucose, reducing tumor energy supply, and thus inhibiting tumor growth may be a very important way to suppress tumor growth.

Promising new approach to cancer treatment, but needs to be validated in larger clinical studies.

 

 

 



references:

[1] Seki T, Yang Y, Sun X, et al. Brown-fat-mediated tumor suppression by cold-altered global metabolism [published online ahead of print, 2022 Aug 3]. Nature. 2022;10.1038/s41586-022- 05030-3. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05030-3

Nature latest research: Lower temperature can inhibit the growth of various cancers

(source:internet, reference only)


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