How high-fat diets affect colorectal cancer spread
Dietary Control of the Pro-Metastatic Niche in Colorectal Cancer
This work looks at whether high‑fat, obesity‑promoting diets make colorectal cancer more likely to spread to the liver, focusing on tumors with common human mutations.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Albert Einstein College of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Bronx, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11457104 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers grow tumors from organoids engineered with common human colorectal cancer mutations and place them into colons using an orthotopic transplantation method that mimics human tumors. They feed the hosts high‑fat, obesity‑promoting diets to see how diet changes tumor behavior and the tendency to form liver metastases. The team profiles tumors and their environments with single‑cell RNA sequencing, uses CRISPR knockouts to test specific genes, and performs untargeted metabolite analysis to find diet-related metabolic shifts. Together these methods aim to reveal how diet creates a pro‑metastatic niche and which molecular pathways drive spread.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with colorectal cancer—especially those interested in links between diet, obesity, and metastasis or whose tumors carry mutations like APC, KRAS, or p53—are most relevant to this research.
Not a fit: People without colorectal cancer or whose tumor biology is very different from the mutations modeled here are unlikely to directly benefit from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could identify diet-driven pathways or targets that lead to new ways to prevent or slow liver metastasis in colorectal cancer patients.
How similar studies have performed: Epidemiologic studies connect obesity to worse colorectal cancer outcomes, but using organoid transplantation combined with single‑cell genomics and CRISPR to pinpoint diet-driven metastatic mechanisms is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Bronx, United States
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine — Bronx, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Goswami, Swagata — Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Goswami, Swagata
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.