2022 Ronald & Victoria Simms – PCF VAlor Young Investigator Award

Using a Novel 3D Platform to Develop Metabolism-based Prostate Cancer Therapies

Neil Lin, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Mentors: Andrew Goldstein, PhD, Matthew Rettig, MD, Isla Garraway, MD, PhD

Description:

• Cancers often prefer to consume different metabolites than normal cells. Understanding what these are may enable the development of new therapeutic strategies to impair tumor progression.
• Tumor metabolism has been difficult to study in humans and in current experimental models. It remains unclear what fuels prostate cancer survival and growth at different stages of tumor progression, and how these preferences are influenced by tumor phenotype and progression to the castration-resistant disease state.
• Dr. Neil Lin has developed a novel 3D bioengineering platform that enables study of the exchange of nutrients between prostate cancer cells and their environment.
• In this project, Dr. Lin will use this system to determine how nutrients fuel prostate cancer cells vs. normal tissues and identify disease stage and castration-resistance influence patterns of nutrient consumption.
• Whether targeting nutrient metabolism can impair prostate cancer survival and growth will be investigated. Specifically, the impacts of dietary restriction and small molecules that target proteins involved in nutrient uptake and metabolism, will be evaluated in preclinical prostate cancer models.
• If successful, this project will define patterns of nutrient consumption in prostate cancer and identify targeted therapeutic strategies to specifically starve tumor cells.

What this means to patients: Cancer cells have a unique metabolism to support their constant and rapid growth. Dr. Lin and team will use a new 3D system to better understand prostate cancer metabolism and will test strategies to kill tumor cells by targeting tumor metabolism. These studies may ultimately lead to new treatments for patients.