Colorectal cancer (CRC) is becoming more common and deadly around the world. One of the biggest issues with treating advanced CRC with radiotherapy is that cancer cells can become resistant to radiation, leading to the cancer coming back or spreading. Scientists are trying to figure out how cancer cells become resistant to radiation to make treatments more effective and help patients live longer.

They looked at the levels of a gene called CPT1A in CRC and how it affects how well radiotherapy works. CPT1A was found to be lower in CRC cells and was linked to how well patients responded to pre-surgery radiation therapy. When CPT1A was increased in cancer cells, they became more sensitive to radiation. This is because CPT1A helps control how cancer cells deal with damage from radiation and how they get rid of harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Further studies showed that CPT1A affects a pathway in cells that involves a protein called FOXM1 and antioxidant enzymes like SOD1, SOD2, and CAT. By controlling this pathway, CPT1A can change how sensitive cancer cells are to radiation. All this means that CPT1A could be a useful marker to predict how well radiation therapy will work and a new target to make CRC cells more sensitive to radiation.

Colorectal Cancer and the Surprising Role of CPT1A in Radiation Sensitivity

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