Breast cancer cells swallow a 'free lunch' of dietary fat particles from the bloodstream

(Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center) A research team at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center has previously shown that fatty particles from the bloodstream may boost the growth of breast cancer cells. They now show that through an unexpected mechanism not previously described in cancer cells, the fat particles bind to the breast cancer cell surface and are then taken into the cell, providing a large supply of fuel that drives proliferation of the cancer cells.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news