Researchers from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, and UCL Genetics Institute have created a detailed cellular map of breast tumors, identifying distinct regions containing actively dividing cancer cells and others with dormant, or “quiescent,” cancer cells. Published in Genome Medicine, the study reveals that these dormant cells are often surrounded by immune and connective tissue cells, such as CXCL10-positive macrophages and myofibroblastic cancer-associated fibroblasts, which may form a protective barrier shielding them from treatment. The findings suggest that effective cancer therapies may need to target not only rapidly proliferating tumor cells but also these dormant cells and their surrounding microenvironments to prevent tumor recurrence.

The researchers utilized single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics to analyze publicly available data, uncovering that dormant cancer cells can survive treatment and later contribute to cancer spread or relapse. Dr. Alexis Barr, co-lead author, emphasizes the danger of these quiescent cells, which can “hide from chemotherapy and then remain in this dormant quiescent state in the tumor, and then later reactivate to drive proliferation.” The study also indicates that characteristics associated with treatment resistance may be present in tumors before therapy begins, challenging the notion that such traits solely emerge as a response to treatment. These insights point to the need for novel therapeutic strategies that address both the proliferative and dormant components of breast tumors. Source

This is a summary. Read the original at sciencedaily.com.