Researchers from the ibs.GRANADA point out that cancer stem cells appear at a later stage of tumor development
Researchers at the ibs.GRANADA point out that cancer stem cells appear at a later stage in tumor development and are responsible for metastasis, but not for its origin. With these results, they propose a new model that provides interesting perspectives when developing new therapeutic strategies to combat cancer.
The group has recently published an article in which they propose a new model of tumor origin. Until now, cells with pluripotency characteristics similar to those of stem cells, which are called cancer stem cells, were designated as tumor initiator cells. However, the new model that researchers propose to explain the origin of a tumor questions this paradigm, stating that the tumor originates from cancer cells different from the previous ones. In fact, in their new model they affirm that cancer stem cells appear at a later stage of tumor development and that they are not the starting point of the primary tumor, but are responsible for the initiation of the metastatic tumor, that is, relapse tumor, which is a consequence of the high mortality associated with cancer.
This work, which won first prize at the 2018 Doctoral Conference organized by the University of Jaén, has been published in the scientific journal Critical Reviews in Oncology and Hematology.
It is led by the research group "Biological Technologies" of the University of Jaén, whose head is the researcher of the Department of Health Sciences of the UJA Macarena Peran, together with the group B-16 ADVANCED THERAPIES: Differentiation, Regeneration and Cancer of the ibs.GRANADA, directed by the researcher Juan Antonio Marchal Corrales, and is signed by the researchers Pablo Hernandez Waiter, Elena Lopez, Shivan barungiy Macarena Peran (UJA) and by Gema Jiménez and Juan Antonio Marchal(UGR). The work is funded by the Carlos III Health Institute and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
The new model proposed by the researchers provides interesting perspectives when it comes to developing new therapeutic strategies to fight cancer. First, it reinforces the enormous importance of making an early diagnosis of cancer at an early stage in its development in which cancer stem cells have not yet appeared. In this way, it would be much easier to completely eradicate the tumor, since it is the cancer stem cells that resist chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. In addition, the risk of disease recurrence after treatment would be avoided, as well as the risk of metastasis appearing since, as previously noted, cancer stem cells are responsible for these two events.
Secondly, it raises the importance of pharmacologically interfering with the molecular factors and/or entities that are responsible for the appearance of cancer stem cells, as is the case with the microenvironment surrounding the tumor, and in this way minimize the risks of appearance of metastasis, recurrence of the disease and development of resistance to anti-cancer treatments. “It is essential to search for new treatments that pharmacologically educate cancer stem cells to reduce their tumorogenic capacities and make them more vulnerable to anti-tumor treatments”, the authors indicate.
In his opinion, it is essential to know the early stages of tumor development and its evolution, understood as the malignant transformation of everything that surrounds the tumor, which is known as the tumor environment. “As the tumor grows, it sends signals to its environment that cause the surrounding cells to transform into cells that promote tumor spread. Thus, cells that are part of the affected tissue, such as fibroblasts or mesenchymal stem cells, become perverted and begin to work in favor of the tumor. All this leads, according to our model, to the appearance of cancer stem cells. Therefore, in order to be able to develop new therapeutic strategies, it is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms that favor the creation of the tumor environment and its dispersion", the authors state, adding that "we hope that our contribution will help in the development of new protocols to combat this disease effectively, since continuing to deepen our knowledge of cancer biology is essential to provide new therapeutic opportunities”.
Bibliographic reference:
Revisiting the dynamic cancer stem cell model: Importance of tumor edges
Pablo Hernández-Camarero, Gema Jiménez, Elena López-Ruiz, Shivan Barungi, Juan Antonio Marchal, Macarena Perán
Critical Reviews in Oncology and Hematology 131 (2018), 35-45