Chemotherapy by slowing glucosphingolipid synthesis.

The hypothesis offered here is that many different illnesses could be treated by slowing the synthesis of glucosphingolipids (GSLs) with a suitable inhibitor. In people with inadequate hydrolases for the GSLs (e.g. Gaucher's disease), the lipids accumulate to a pathological degree. It should be possible to eliminate the accumulation by slowing the synthesis of the GSLs to match the ability of the patient to degrade them. In people with cancer, the tumors secrete excessive amounts of GSLs, which block the ability of the immune system to attack the tumor cells. By blocking the synthesis of tumor GSLs, it should be possible to enable the patient to generate antibodies and activated T cells that can destroy the tumor. Tumors exhibiting multidrug resistance may do so by synthesizing GSLs even faster than usual. It should be possible to restore the sensitivity of the tumor to anti-cancer drugs by inhibiting their synthesis of GSLs. Metastasis of tumors also appears to require the formation of GSLs, so an inhibitor should help block tumor dissemination. Diabetics tend to have high levels of blood glucose, which acts to stimulate kidney growth via more rapid synthesis of GSLs. This pathological growth can be blocked by inhibiting the formation of kidney GSLs. Viruses, bacteria, and bacterial toxins have been found to bind to specific GSLs of human and animal cells. Presumably, this binding leads to the damaging process of infection. It should be possible to treat such infections by depleting the host's body of its GSLs.