The mevalonate (MVA) pathway is an essential metabolic pathway that uses acetyl-CoA to produce sterols and isoprenoids that are integral to tumour growth and progression. In recent years, many oncogenic signalling pathways have been shown to increase the activity and/or the expression of MVA pathway enzymes. This Review summarizes recent advances and discusses unique opportunities for immediately targeting this metabolic vulnerability in cancer with agents that have been approved for other therapeutic uses, such as the statin family of drugs, to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
Key Points
AML cells have increased mitochondrial mass, low respiratory chain complex activities, and low spare reserve capacity compared with normal cells. AML cells have heightened sensitivity to inhibitors of the respiratory chain complexes and oxidative stressors.
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