Increases in the Appetite Hormone Leptin Linked to Colorectal Cancer

Increased levels of the appetite control hormone leptin have been shown to boost growth and development of colorectal tumor stem cells (CTSCs) growing in laboratory cultures.

Investigators at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA, USA) and their colleagues at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Rome, Italy) worked with cultures of their previously established and characterized CTSC clones.

They reported in the July 5, 2010, edition of the journal Endrocrine-Related Cancer that these cells expressed the leptin receptor ObR and responded to leptin with cell proliferation, activation of the ERK1/2 and AKT signaling pathways, enhanced growth in soft agar, and improved sphere formation associated with E-cadherin overexpression. Furthermore, leptin counteracted the cytotoxic effects of 5-fluorouracil, a common colon cancer therapeutic agent.

"Since targeting cancer stem cells may be a translationally relevant strategy to improve clinical outcomes, interfering with leptin signaling by targeting leptin receptors might become a novel attractive option for colorectal cancer treatment, particularly in obese patients,” said senior author Dr. Eva Surmacz, associate professor of biology at Temple University.

"It is important to consider that cancer stem cells have been identified in several human malignancies,” said Dr. Monica Bartucci, a senior researcher at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. "Understanding how cancer stem cells interact with a tumor environment, including hormones like leptin, is likely to have significant implications for treatment management of different cancer types in human patients. We hope, in collaboration with Dr. Surmacz, not only to test the effects of leptin antagonist compounds on colon cancer stem cells but also to study the results of leptin stimulation on cancer stem cells isolated in other cancer tissues.”

Related Links:
Temple University
Istituto Superiore di Sanità