Dr. Weiss on PPAR-Alpha as a Target in Kidney Cancer

Robert H. Weiss, MD, Professor, Chief of Nephrology, Sacramento VA Medical Center, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-alpha) as a possible new treatment target for patients with renal cell carcinoma.

PPAR-alpha is a nuclear receptor protein that is heavily involved in lipid metabolism. Early studies have indicated that inhibiting PPAR-alpha decreases the growth of new cells.

Weiss notes that current research is investigating PPAR-alpha antagonists as a means to prevent the growth of kidney cancer, since metabolomic evidence suggests that kidney cancer cells preferentially digest fat. This metabolomic profile is not typical of most tumor cells, which derive their energy from glucose. To this end, PPAR-alpha antagonists that inhibit fatty acid oxidation are currently being researched as a therapeutic approach in kidney cancer.