Growth signal can influence cancer cells’ vulnerability to drugs, study suggests
“There are several reasons why some cancer stem cells, the cells at the root of tumors and metastases, can withstand therapy meant to eradicate them. Our results point to the importance of the environment immediately surrounding the skin cancer stem cells, specifically, their exposure to the signal TGF-β,” says senior researcher Elaine Fuchs. “Ultimately, we hope this new insight could lead to better means for preventing the recurrence of these life-threatening cancers, which can occur in the skin, head, neck, esophagus, and lung, and often evade treatment.” Her team, which included first author Naoki Oshimori, a postdoctoral research associate in the lab and lab technician Daniel Oristian, focused on squamous cell carcinomas in the skin of mice. Like many normal tissue stem cells, the stem cells that produce squamous cell tumors can be classified into two types: those that divide and proliferate rapidly, and those that do so more slowly. …