As they grow, cancer cells need a lot of structural macromolecules and/or signaling mediators. Making these macromolecules or their building blocks requires intensive cellular energy. Here comes the sneaky aspect of cancer cells.  Instead of spending their own energy, they adopt a scavenging tactic to extract nutrients from neighboring cells. Deciphering the detailed mechanism of this symbiotic relationship is crucial to combat cancer recurrence.
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Publication Spotlight

Cancers such as prostate, breast and ovarian cancers use steroidal hormones to proliferate. Therapies that stop these hormones from working are effective but resistance eventually occur. One path to resistance results from tumors utilizing an increasing amount of cholesterol to make local steroids. How do cancer cells sustain their requirement from cholesterol?

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El-Kenawi Lab finally opened its doors August 2023

In the past 4 month, I was privileged to set up El-Kenawi Lab at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center studies metabolic interactions within the prostate tumor microenvironment.
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New Funding! 

In 2023, El-Kenawi Lab received a National Cancer Institute exploratory grant to investigate how cholesterol accumulates in prostate cancer cells and how cholesterol drives resistance to certain therapies. The ultimate goal is to improve targeted prostate cancer treatments.
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