Cancer Research Month Spotlight: Brent Stockwell's Bold Approach to Targeting Aggressive Cancers
May marks Cancer Research Month—a time to recognize and amplify efforts aimed at preventing, detecting, and treating cancer. At IICD, researchers like Brent Stockwell, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Pathology and Cell Biology, and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, are at the forefront of these efforts. His work focuses on uncovering new vulnerabilities in some of the most difficult-to-treat cancers.
Uncovering Cancer’s Metabolic Weakness
Dr. Stockwell’s research is driven by a simple but powerful question: How can we target cancers that are resistant to existing treatments? His team has zeroed in on how metabolism—how cells process nutrients—changes in these drug-resistant cancers. They discovered that certain cancers build up specific types of fats that make them vulnerable to a newly recognized form of cell death called ferroptosis.
“Ferroptosis is a type of cell death caused by damage to fat molecules in the cell, with iron playing a key role in the process,” Stockwell explains. “We think of it as an Achilles heel. If we can exploit this vulnerability, we might be able to eliminate some of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers.”
More than ten years ago, Dr. Stockwell’s lab first proposed the concept of and named ferroptosis as a unique type of cell death. Since then, they’ve been working to understand which cancers are most sensitive to it—and why. That curiosity continues to fuel his work today. “We became inspired to see whether ferroptosis could be used to selectively destroy cancers that don’t respond to traditional therapies,” he says.
The Role of Diet in Cancer Treatment
One of the most exciting recent developments in Dr. Stockwell’s research has been the discovery that diet may play a crucial role in how cancers respond to ferroptosis-based treatments. “Because metabolism is so closely tied to the food we eat, we’ve found that certain diets can make cancers more or less sensitive to these treatments,” he says. “Now we’re studying whether specific foods can enhance the effects of drugs that promote ferroptosis. In the future, we think pairing the right foods with the right drugs could be an important part of cancer treatment.”
Innovating with Single-Cell Metabolism Technologies
Cancer’s complexity is one of the biggest challenges researchers face. Tumors are not made up of just one type of cell—they include different cancer cells as well as normal cells like immune cells. Understanding how each of these cells behaves, especially when it comes to metabolism, is key to designing better treatments.
To tackle this challenge, Dr. Stockwell’s team is developing new technologies to examine metabolism at the level of single cells. “This lets us see how individual cells process nutrients and respond to treatments, which is essential for figuring out how to target them effectively,” he explains.
Looking Ahead: A New Approach to Treating Cancer
Dr. Stockwell’s work offers hope for new ways to treat aggressive, drug-resistant cancers. “Our goal is to exploit ferroptosis to eliminate these cancers,” he says. “It’s an exciting possibility that could lead to better outcomes for patients facing some of the toughest diagnoses.”
What keeps him motivated? The constant evolution of science. “There are always new discoveries and technologies that allow us to ask better and more exciting questions,” he says. “That’s what drives us forward.”
As we celebrate Cancer Research Month, Dr. Stockwell’s groundbreaking work is pushing the boundaries of cancer research—bringing us closer to a future where more cancers can be effectively treated, and lives can be saved.