An Exploration of the Metabolic Profile of Mammary Ductal Carcinoma Cells upon Treatment with Docosahexaenoic Acid

Abstract

In recent years, cancer has come to be thought of as a metabolic disease. The Warburg phenotype, characteristic of most cancer cells is postulated to confer survival advantages. Special attention has been paid to treatments that attenuate metabolic function in cancer. Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA; 22:6; 6n-3) has been shown to depress mammary carcinoma survival in cell culture as well as animal models. DHA supplementation has been shown to diminish the bioenergetic profile of malignant cell lines in a dose dependent manner. In the current study, the location of DHA’s impact on oxidative phosphorylation will be investigated. This research will help to discern a possible mechanism for DHA, thus allowing for a more targeted approach in the search for compounds which may synergistically interact with DHA to inhibit cancer cell growth and proliferation.