Cancer Cell Growth Could Be Stopped By Starving Them, New Research Reveals

The growth of cancer cells can be stopped by preventing them from getting nutrients, in short, by starving them. The discovery was made by scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) who found that starving the cells can limit their growth by at least 96 percent.

The ANU researchers were studying how protein supply could be used for the treatment of diabetes when they figured out that the same process could be repurposed to fight cancer. "We thought OK, well protein is essential for humans to grow and proteins are also essential for cancer cells to grow so we thought maybe we can apply [this knowledge] to both treating diabetes and to stop the growth of cancer cells," said Dr Stefan Bröer from ANU. "So it's basically a sort of spinoff of other research we're doing."

The first attempt to bar the entry of proteins into the cells was countered by the cancer. However, the researchers found that cancer cells can actually adapt, which implies that a two prolonged attack has to be worked on and the cell cannot be allowed to come up with a reserve way to get nutrients.

Another benefit of starving cancel cells is that it can be implemented to a process that occurs across a wide range of cancers. The usual problem with cancer is that there have to be bespoke therapies and drugs for each type, which cannot be applied to other cancers.

The experts also suggested that if the starving method is observed to be successful then it might remove the need for treatments like chemotherapy which may leave undesirable side effects on patients. Also, according to the study, there is proof that the method will not harm the normal cells in the body.  Meanwhile, the next step by the researchers will involve developing a compound drug to block the proteins, and the method will be trialed on humans.