In This Section

Defining the Metabolic Dependencies of Tumors

Investigator

Matthew Vander Heiden, MD, PhD
Eisen and Chang Career Development Professor
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Summary

Tumor cells require nutrients to survive and support tumor growth. These nutrients are provided by the cells that surround the tumor – the tumor microenvironment. Understanding the aspects of metabolism that are essential for tumor growth may reveal how best to exploit altered cancer metabolism and, thereby, identify targets for new drugs and improved cancer treatment. This proposal will study the fate of different nutrients within tumors in order to understand the aspects of metabolism that are essential for tumor growth. First, specially labeled nutrients will be traced within a tumor to understand the differences in nutrient metabolism in laboratory models of lung, pancreatic, and prostate cancers, compared to non-tumor models. Next, enzymes important for cellular metabolism will be genetically deleted from the laboratory models to determine which enzymes are critical for tumor initiation and maintenance. Lastly, existing therapies targeting metabolism will be selected to inhibit metabolic targets. The overall goal of this proposal is to define the metabolic dependencies of lung, pancreatic, and prostate cancer, to determine how best to use existing drugs targeting metabolism, and how to combine these drugs with new approaches to treat patients.

Updated: May 2016