UTSW Study Reveals Tumors Use Dietary Purines to Fuel Growth
Research from Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern, published in Cell, reveals that cancer cells significantly use purine nucleotides from food to fuel tumor growth. This challenges the long-held belief that tumors primarily synthesize these DNA building blocks from scratch. CRI Assistant Professor Dr. Gerta Hoxhaj and her team discovered that tumors efficiently use the salvage pathway to acquire purines. “For over 70 years, cancer treatments have targeted purine nucleotides, but resistance often develops,” Dr. Hoxhaj said. “Our research highlights the crucial role of the salvage pathway in tumor growth, presenting new avenues for cancer therapy.”
UTSW Study Reveals Tumors Use Dietary Purines to Fuel Growth