Grant: Project Grant

Cancer patients have low muscle mass and even more loss of muscle occurs during cancer treatment with drugs (chemotherapy). When this happens, the tumor does not respond as well to treatment and patients have poorer function and shorter survival. The work proposed will apply a dietary intervention of fatty acids (n-3 fatty acids) to enhance tumor response to drug treatments while preventing harmful side effects to muscle of the drugs at the same time. We think these fatty acids will benefit both the tumor and the muscle because they become incorporated into membranes of both tissues when provided through diet and this can result in changes to cell function. We will provide a supplement containing n-3 fatty acids to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy prior to surgery as well as an animal model that receives chemotherapy so we can follow changes in tumor and muscle over time. For each study, muscle and tumor will be collected and analysed for cellular pathways and biological messengers that are affected by supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids. This work holds significant potential to impact the lives of people diagnosed with cancer, the majority of whom experience muscle loss during treatment.