.gif)
Molecular
changes in cells called fibroblasts, which help provide support for tissues
throughout the body, may explain why one type of colon cancer doesn't respond
to therapy, according to a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine.
Targeting these cells may be a way to make treatment more effective.
In
a study published Nov. 17 in Developmental Cell the investigators examined
cells called fibroblasts in CMS4, the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat
form of colorectal cancer, to determine how these cancer-associated cells
acquire traits that allow them to support malignancy in neighboring cells. CMS4
affects about a third of all colorectal cancer patients.
There
are two important components to this study," said co-senior author Dr.
Jorge Moscat-Guillen, Homer T. Hirst III Professor of Oncology in Pathology and
Vice-Chair for Experimental Pathology. "First, we have shown in a mechanistic
way how these cancer-associated fibroblasts acquire the characteristics that
they have. Second, we confirmed that what we discovered in our lab models also
applies to patients, which begins to suggest how these findings could be useful
in the clinic."
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-reveals-tumors-makeup-cells.html
