The effect of fat cells on tumour growth can provide clues to improved cancer therapy

As a Wallenberg Scholar, Kirsty Spalding will be studying how fat cells influence tumour growth, providing insights that will contribute to the development of new cancer therapies.

Patients with metastatic cancer often have a poor prognosis, as current treatments are not always adequately effective. Obesity is well established to associate with an increased risk of developing cancer and worse patient outcomes, however the mechanisms underlying this involved are less well understood.

“Since obesity is a widespread health risk not only in Sweden but around the world, it’s important to understand how it affects the development and spread of tumours,” says Kirsty Spalding.

Previous research has focused on the role of fat cells in the local tumour environment. 

Senescent fat cells – a key factor?

Kirsty Spalding and her research group are using modern technique to gain a better understanding of how fat cells contribute to the growth and spread of cancer. One observation they have made is that fat cells in individuals with obesity undergo a process called senescence. Senescence mean that the cells become highly metabolically active and increase their secretory phenotype. 

Their hypothesis is that proteins secreted from these senescent fat cells can stimulate tumour growth and metastasis. 

As a Wallenberg Scholar Kirsty Spalding wants to study if common cancer treatments, such as radio- and chemotherapy, promote fat-cell senescence and if so, whether it can give rise to metabolic diseases in surviving cancer patients.

More specifically, she wants to examine if the treatment of fat cells with special senolytic drugs that target senescent cells can form a new component of metastatic cancer therapy. 

“Identifying how obesity promotes the development of cancer and developing strategies to mitigate this process will be of important benefit to higher-risk individuals,” says Professor Spalding.