Cancer treatment strategies targeting mitochondria – the tiny organelles known as the battery packs inside our cells – have predominantly focused on their role in cellular energy production. But what if the scientific community engages in a deep rethink on this strategy and instead drills down on mitochondrial biology?
That’s precisely what Dr. Julie St-Pierre’s laboratory at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine is calling for. According to a new review the team published in Trends in Molecular Medicine, cancer therapies based on mitochondrial targeting may possibly hold the key to overcoming some of the most critical unmet needs in 21st century oncology.
Redefining mitochondria’s role in cancer
The uOttawa team’s latest pioneering publication is anchored on collaborative research that made significant waves in 2024. That high-impact work co-led by Dr. St-Pierre’s lab put forth highly compelling evidence that promoting mitochondrial elongation in cancer cells hobbles their ability to metastasize in breast cancer.
“Our discovery that mitochondrial elongation had significant impact on reducing metastasis made us rethink the potential of targeting mitochondria in cancer.”
Dr. Julie St-Pierre
— Full Professor and Vice-President, Research and Innovation
Exploring the diverse role of mitochondrial dynamics on breast cancer metastasis, the team showed that administering a drug targeting this pathway was able to substantially limit metastasis formation in mice. Metastasis is the deadly process when cancer spreads beyond the area where it started.
“Our discovery that mitochondrial elongation had significant impact on reducing metastasis made us rethink the potential of targeting mitochondria in cancer,” says Dr. St-Pierre, a renowned researcher in the field of cancer and metabolism who is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology and the University of Ottawa’s Vice-President for Research and Innovation.
“Identifying biomarkers for cancers that are especially vulnerable to mitochondrial targeting would allow us to recognize patients with the highest likelihood of responding to treatment...”
Dr. Lucía Minarrieta
— Postdoctoral Fellow in the St-Pierre lab
While scientists had understood that mitochondrial energy production played a starring role in cancer progression, global research efforts to target those mitochondrial pathways therapeutically were delivering disappointing results due to adverse side effects. After all, mitochondria’s indispensable role in healthy tissues makes it highly challenging to administer mitochondrial inhibitors without difficulties.
So the uOttawa-led team’s discovery that other mitochondrial functions also play an important role in cancer progression was trailblazing work.
Shifting focus: Stopping metastasis before it starts
The St-Pierre laboratory is exploring this all-important question: Since the majority of existing cancer drugs focus on reducing established tumours, what if developing therapies were aimed at preventing metastasis formation in the first place?
Generating new cancer therapies that selectively target tumour cells without damaging healthy tissues is key and could have a big impact on patient outcomes, explains Dr. Lucía Minarrieta, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the St-Pierre lab and joint senior author on the newly published review.
“Continued research will be key to develop strategies that selectively target tumour cells without damaging healthy tissues, for example by developing drugs that preferentially accumulate in cancer cells,” she says.
“Furthermore, identifying biomarkers for cancers that are especially vulnerable to mitochondrial targeting would allow us to recognize patients with the highest likelihood of responding to treatment, bringing us closer to a more precise and feasible approach to introduce drugs targeting mitochondria in cancer therapy.”
In their newly published review, Drs. St-Pierre and Minarrieta explore various mitochondrial pathways that may be targeted for treating cancer. They also discuss possible treatment strategies that remain largely unexplored but have the potential to benefit a tremendous number of patients across the globe.
It’s all part of the St-Pierre lab’s central focus: Better understanding metabolic adaptation to physiological and pathological conditions.
