Study: Leukemia cells metabolize fat

HOUSTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've discovered leukemia cells metabolize fat to avoid cell death -- a finding that may lead to a new target for killing cancer cells.

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers said leukemia cells, as most cancers, are addicted to glucose to generate energy. But the new research shows for the first time the cells also rely on fatty acid metabolism to grow and to evade cell death.

"These findings translate to a potentially transformational approach to controlling leukemia and cancer cell metabolism by therapeutically targeting fatty acid oxidation," said co-senior author Dr. Michael Andreeff. "Cancer metabolism has attracted renewed, cutting-edge research interest. Here we have first identified a metabolic target and our first in vivo results are promising, but there is much more work that needs to be done."

Andreeff and co-senior author Dr. Heinrich Taegtmeyer report their discovery in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.