Starving a lung tumour's shipping department: a new way to slow its growth

Many lung cancers carry extra copies of a chromosome region that supercharges a protein called PLD1 — part of the cell's 'shipping department,' the Golgi apparatus that packages and sends out proteins. UTHealth Houston researchers have shown that targeting this secretory machinery creates a real vulnerability: block the shipping, and tumour growth slows. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding may extend beyond lung cancer — the same chromosome gain is common in head and neck and oesophageal cancers, which could share the weakness.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation