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Updated: Jul 12, 2025
08:34
Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies
Published on: February 6, 2019
20.4K
How protons pave the way to aggressive cancers.
Pawel Swietach1, Ebbe Boedtkjer2, Stine Falsig Pedersen3
1Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. pawel.swietach@dpag.ox.ac.uk.
Nature Reviews. Cancer
|October 26, 2023
Summary
Cancer progression involves changes in proton (H+) levels, impacting tumor growth and invasion. Targeting these pH disturbances offers new therapeutic strategies against cancer.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Biochemistry
- Cancer Biology
Background:
- Cancers exhibit altered proton (H+) concentration and sensing, crucial for disease progression.
- Oncogenic mutations often disrupt cellular pH balance, promoting tumor growth and invasion.
- Tumor acidity, driven by metabolic changes and poor perfusion, exacerbates cancer-associated pH disturbances.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of protonation state and pH disturbances in cancer progression.
- To explore how altered pH impacts tumor biology, including proliferation and immune surveillance.
- To identify therapeutic opportunities targeting H+-operated responses in cancer.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of proton (H+) concentration and sensing in cancer cells.
- Investigating the effects of pH disturbances on tumor microenvironment.
- Evaluating the impact of acidosis on cancer cell phenotypes and progression.
Main Results:
- Protonation state changes are integral to cancer development and progression.
- Tumor acidity selects for aggressive, acid-resistant cancer cell phenotypes.
- H+-operated responses play a distinct role in key cancer events beyond hypoxia and lactate.
Conclusions:
- Altered pH is a significant driver of cancer progression and aggressiveness.
- Targeting proton dynamics and pH regulation presents a promising therapeutic avenue.
- Understanding H+ roles opens new strategies to combat cancer by modulating its microenvironment.
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