With nearly 60,000 cases per year in France, prostate cancer is the most common male cancer. If the survival of men who suffer from it is improving, according to The 2024 panorama of the National Cancer Institute, recurrences and advanced stages are only slightly sensitive to traditional treatments. The cause: certain mutations of the TP53 gene, famous in the fight against cancers. There are therapies that sometimes restore the function of this gene called "guardian of the genome". But the effectiveness of these techniques depends a lot on the type of mutation that affects the gene. In other words, not all mutations are equal and sometimes it is very difficult to restore its function.
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have tested a new therapeutic approach, and their results are promising. But what vulnerability does this new method rely on? The survival of prostate tumor cells depends on suppliers who provide them with the amino acids (building blocks of proteins) that they need, and that they cannot produce. The GCN2 gene is the conductor of this vital coming and going. Depriving cancer cells of the GCN2 gene is a bit like besieging them: deprived of the amino acids essential to their survival, they die. This study, led by Kirk Staschke and Ronald Wek, was published in the prestigious journal Scientists are able to explain the origins of science.
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