Receptor May Curb Growth of Colon Cancer
Mon Sep 1, 2:56 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scientists say it may be possible to
block the development and growth of colon cancer by stimulating
particular receptors on the surface of cells.

The "peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-alpha" -- PPAR-alpha
for short -- plays a key role in disposing of fat, and dietary fat is
believed be important in the development of colon cancer. PPAR-alpha
appears to regulate the level of fat inside cells by activating
enzymes that breakdown the fat, so it can be turned into energy.

As they report in the medical journal Gut, Dr. Andrew J. Bennett from
Nottingham University Medical School in the UK and others measured
PPAR-alpha levels in healthy non-cancerous and in cancerous colon
tissue obtained from biopsy samples. They found markedly lower levels
of PPAR-alpha in the cancerous tissue compared with the healthy
tissue.

In mice that develop colon polyps, a precursor to colon cancer,
treatment with methylclofenapate, a powerful PPAR-alpha activator,
reduced the total number of tumors significantly in both the small
intestine and the large intestine of the animals, the scientists
report.

When they treated cultured human cancer cells with methylclofenapate,
they also saw a reduction in the number of cancer cells and in the
growth of the cells.

PPAR-alpha may be an important target for the development of anti-
cancer agents, the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Gut September 2003.