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WCAX-TV, the television station in Burlington (Vermont, USA), devotes a report to a study on cancer, headed by Salvador Aznar Benitah, ICREA researcher and group leader of the Stem Cells and Cancer Laboratory at IRB Barcelona. The study reports that in mice a specific protein called CD36 absorbs fat from the cell membrane and is the agent that determines whether the cancer grows elsewhere in the body. The study demonstrates the anti-metastatic effect of blocking the CD36 protein in mice.
Based on their findings, Salvador Aznar Benitah's group is now working to develop treatments. "We are taking a group of patients with oral cancer and spitting them into two groups. One group will go on a diet with very low levels of palmitic acid while the other will be on a controlled diet, with a standard amount of fat. This will allow us to compare the effect of the two diets," said Salvador Aznar Benitah.
Link to WCAX-TV
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
