Switch molecule to turn off hunger
Scientists at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, the University of NSW and the Garvan Institute have discovered how to switch on and off a molecule which controls hunger.
It could produce rapid weight loss in the morbidly obese and prevent the extreme weight loss that weakens and kills patients with end-stage cancer, potentially saving their lives.
The international breakthrough promises to change the way cancer and obesity are treated around the world.
The scientists found that many common cancers, such as those in the prostate, breast, colon and pancreas, produce large amounts of a protein called MIC-1, which targets receptors in the brain to switch off appetite.
The bigger the tumour, the more MIC-1 circulating in a patient’s blood and the less likely they were to eat, but by injecting mice with a MIC-1 antibody, scientists could turn a patient’s appetite back on, preventing weight loss and making them strong enough to cope with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
It opens up completely new ways of dealing with obesity and also neutralises one of the major side effects of cancer. It’s a breakthrough that could directly improve quality of life for many people.
The scientists are looking for commercial collaborators so they can begin clinical trials within three years. They expect the synthetic protein could be on the market within six years.
