Grant ID | RP220567 |
Awarded On | September 14, 2022 |
Title | Fasting-induced microbiome changes and radioprotection |
Program | Academic Research |
Award Mechanism | High Impact/High Risk |
Institution/Organization | The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center |
Principal Investigator/Program Director | Helen Piwnica-Worms |
Cancer Sites | Gallbladder, Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct, Pancreas, Small Intestine |
Contracted Amount | $249,999 |
Lay Summary |
The sensitivity of normal tissues in our body to radiation damage prevents physicians from delivering high enough doses of radiation to cure patents of their cancer. If we had a way to protect our small intestines from the side-effects of radiation, physicians could use higher doses to eradicate tumors within the abdomen or pelvis, including pancreatic cancer. We showed that short-term fasting of mice confers radioprotection to cells in the small intestine and we demonstrated that the ability of fasting to reduce intestinal radiotoxicity enabled us to expose mice with pancreatic cancer to high doses of radiation, which delayed tumor growth and prolonged survival. Experiments in this proposa... |