Tumours with PI3K activation are resistant to dietary restriction.
Nada Y. Kalaany & David M. Sabatini
Nature. Published online 11 March 2009
doi:10.1038/nature07782
A signalling pathway that influences how sensitive cancer cells are to the beneficial effects of dietary restriction is described in this week's Nature.
Dietary restriction - eating less calories while maintaining essential vitamins and minerals - can extend lifespan, and reduce cancer incidence and growth. But some types of cancer cell are more sensitive to the anti-growth effects of dietary restriction than others, Nada Kalaany and David Sabatini report. The effect hinges on the activity of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. If the pathway is active, dietary restriction has no effect on cancer cells. However, if the pathway is inactive, tumours are sensitive to dietary restriction.