An international research team led by University of Texas at Arlington scientist Zui Pan has discovered that zinc selectively halts the growth of cancer cells but not normal esophageal epithelial cells.
Zinc selectively inhibits cancer cell growth. Image credit: Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health.
According to the National Cancer Institute, esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of human cancer deaths around the world.
“Our study could provide a pathway for better esophageal cancer prevention and treatment,” Dr. Pan said.
Previous studies had shown that zinc is essential for maintaining human health and protects the esophagus from cancer. However, it has never been fully understood why zinc has the ability to prevent cancer in the esophagus.
“Zinc deficiency has been found in many cancer patients. Both clinical data and animal studies have shown that this mineral is very important for overall body health and for cancer prevention,” Dr. Pan said.
“Zinc is an important element in many proteins and many enzymes and the absence of zinc makes it impossible for cells to function.”
“But previously we didn’t know why the same physiological concentrations of zinc inhibit cancer cell growth but not normal cells.”
“Our study, for the first time to our knowledge, reveals that zinc impedes overactive calcium signals in cancer cells, which is absent in normal cells, and thus zinc selectively inhibits cancer cell growth,” she added.
“It now appears that zinc and calcium can have a cross talk, meaning that they can be linked.”
An insufficient amount of zinc can lead to the development of cancers and other diseases.
“That’s why it is important to have a good diet,” Dr. Pan said.
Zinc enriched foods include spinach, flax seeds, beef, pumpkin seeds and seafood like shrimp and oysters.
“In the future we will study these two signals link, how they impact each other and how we can take advantage of what we know,” Dr. Pan noted.
“Such a step will guide us in developing a better prevention and treatment strategy.”
The study is published in The FASEB Journal.
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Sangyong Choi et al. Selective inhibitory effects of zinc on cell proliferation in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma through Orai1. The FASEB Journal, published online September 19, 2017; doi: 10.1096/fj.201700227RRR
