Eli5: Since Mitochondria play an important role in cancer through macromolecular synthesis and energy production, why are we not targeting those energy path ways to exhaust cancer?

Question

Eli5: Since Mitochondria play an important role in cancer through macromolecular synthesis and energy production, why are we not targeting those energy path ways to exhaust cancer?

In: 3

Answer 1

Because use that to effectively target cancer, you’d have to have an effective method at distinguishing individual cancer cells from healthy cells; mitochondria are present in all human cells and most eukaryotic cells. If you can do that, you might as well use the body’s own immune system to outright lyse/kill the cell instead of “poisoning” the cancer cell.