Cancer therapy may be aided by induced macropinocytosis, a rare form of cell death

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) In laboratory experiments, a metabolic inhibitor was able to kill a variety of human cancer cells of the skin, breast, lung, cervix and soft tissues through a non-apoptotic route -- catastrophic macropinocytosis. In mouse xenograft studies, the inhibitor acted synergistically with a common chemotherapy drug, cyclophosphamide, to reduce tumor growth. Thus macropinocytosis, a rarely described form of cell death, may aid in the treatment of cancer.