Study reveals cancer cells can change size to survive medication

researchers have discovered Cancer cells can change size to withstand drug therapy and other environmental stressors.

Researchers at the Cancer Institute in London are using biochemical profiling techniques and mathematical analysis to understand how genetic mutations affect cancer cell growth and how these mutations might affect future treatments. I showed you how it is used.

Researchers believe that small cells may be more vulnerable to DNA-damaging agents, such as chemotherapy combined with targeted drugs, and larger cancer cells may respond better to immunotherapy.

This research was published in Science Advances.

Combined innovative high-performance image analysis with DNA and protein testing to study size regulation of millions of skin cancer cells.

Skin cancer melanoma is caused by two different genetic mutations. 60% of cases are caused by BRAF gene mutations and 20-30% of cases are caused by NRAS mutations.

Researchers set out to investigate differences in size and shape of skin cancer cells containing two mutations by using mathematical algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data on DNA and proteins. .

The main difference was cell size. BRAF mutant cancer cells were very small, whereas NRAS mutant cancer cells were much larger. Drug-resistant NRAS cells grew even larger.

Small cells appear to be able to withstand higher levels of DNA damage because they are highly enriched in DNA repair proteins such as the PARP, BRCA1, or ATM1 proteins.

ICR researchers say this makes them more vulnerable to agents like PARP inhibitors (drugs that block proteins involved in DNA damage repair), especially when combined with DNA-damaging agents such as chemotherapy. I think it could become

In contrast, larger NRAS-mutant cancer cells contained damage instead of repairing DNA, accumulating and expanding mutations. Chemotherapy and the use of PARP inhibitors may not be as effective against

Scientists believe that larger cells are more responsive to immunotherapy. Because the higher the number of mutations in a cell, the more alien it will appear to the body. They are already exploring this theory in further research.

The researchers found that BRAF and NRAS mutations regulate the levels of a protein known as CCND1, which is involved in cell division, growth and maintenance of the cytoskeleton, and its interactions with other proteins, thereby contributing to differences in cell size. I think it may be causing

Although this study focused on skin cancer cells, the researchers believe that this size-shifting ability and effect on treatment response is common to multiple cancer types. They have already identified a similar mechanism in breast cancer and are now investigating whether their findings can be applied to head and neck cancer.

The findings provide new insight into how cancer cell size affects disease as a whole, and how cancer patients respond to different treatments simply by analyzing cell size. can be predicted more accurately.

Existing drugs can even be used to bring cancer cells to a desired size before treatments such as immunotherapy and radiation therapy, potentially improving their effectiveness.

Study Leader Professor Chris Bacal, a professor of cancer morphodynamics at the Cancer Institute in London, said: Controlled changes in the size of cancer cells. Cancer cells can shrink or grow to increase their ability to repair or contain DNA damage, resulting in resistance to certain treatments.

“We believe our work has real diagnostic potential. By looking at cell size, pathologists can predict whether drugs will work or whether cells will develop resistance.” Ultimately, it may even be possible to use AI to guide pathologists, making rapid assessments of cell size to determine the most effective treatments.

“We also hope that our findings will lead to new therapeutic strategies, such as creating drugs that target proteins that regulate cell size.”

Professor Christian Herrin, Chief Executive of the Cancer Institute, London, said: Cancers respond to therapy.It is particularly noteworthy that cell size may also be an important biomarker for how other cancers, such as breast and head and neck cancers, respond to therapy. It’s interesting.”

HT

Source: Ani