Inhibition of Fatty Acid Synthase for Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the number one diagnosed cancer in men, with treatments that have low survival rates and are unable to cure the cancer. The purpose of the research that I conducted was to discover compounds that could potentially be used as a new treatment for prostate cancer. Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is an enzyme that helps cancer cells grow, leading researchers to theorize that if FAS can be repressed then the cancer cells will stop growing. Orlistat, an over-the-counter weight loss drug, is the only known compound that inhibits the thioesterase domain of FAS (FAS TE). When orlistat has been injected into mice, it has shown anti-cancer efficacy in a model of prostate cancer. However, orlistat cannot be absorbed by the body when taken orally, so new compounds that can inhibit FAS TE need to be discovered. The research that I conducted dealt with the synthesis of fatty acid derivatives in order to find a compound that would be able to inhibit FAS TE when taken orally and effectively treat prostate cancer, without causing too much harm to the body. Over the course of these studies I was able to synthesize several potential FAS TE inhibitors that are currently being tested for inhibition of FAS TE and cytotoxicity against prostate cancer cells.