Association Between Iron and Cholesterol in Neuroblastomas

Neuroblastoma is the most common childhood extracranial solid malignancy. Although cancer cells need iron and lipids for active cell division, possible links between iron and lipid metabolism in neuroblastomas have not been studied.

We evaluated the levels and association between iron and cholesterol on in vitro neuroblastoma cancer models.

We found that the levels of iron and cholesterol are diverse among neuroblastoma cell lines. There is a bi-directional association between iron and cholesterol in drug-resistant neuroblastoma SK-N-AS cells. In drug-resistant neuroblastoma cells, low concentration of an iron chelator did not have an impact on iron levels, but on cellular cholesterol levels. Furthermore, a cholesterol decreasing agent, simvastatin, influenced both iron and cholesterol levels in drug-resistant neuroblastoma cells.

Cholesterol decreasing agents may be more effective than iron chelators for drug-resistant neuroblastoma treatment.