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PM study reveals new strategy to treat colorectal cancer by mimicking viral infection.
Posted On: August 28, 2015
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photo courtesy of UHN Public Affairs.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Daniel De Carvalho (Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre) has discovered a new therapeutic strategy that could lead to more effective treatments for colorectal cancer.
The team showed that treating colorectal cancer cells with the chemotherapy drug decitabine activates pathways that make the cells grow and proliferate more slowly and behave like they are infected with viruses; as a consequence of this, the cells are targeted and cleared by the immune system. They also demonstrated that colorectal cancer stem cells—a subset of cells within a tumour that can resist treatment and promote relapse—are also susceptible to decitabine.
This exciting discovery was published online on August 27th by the journal Cell, one of the most prestigious and well-respected scientific journals currently in print. Click here to read the abstract.
The team showed that treating colorectal cancer cells with the chemotherapy drug decitabine activates pathways that make the cells grow and proliferate more slowly and behave like they are infected with viruses; as a consequence of this, the cells are targeted and cleared by the immune system. They also demonstrated that colorectal cancer stem cells—a subset of cells within a tumour that can resist treatment and promote relapse—are also susceptible to decitabine.
This exciting discovery was published online on August 27th by the journal Cell, one of the most prestigious and well-respected scientific journals currently in print. Click here to read the abstract.