Cancer Cells Can Hibernate En Masse to Survive Chemotherapy
Colon cancer cells, 3D artwork. [luismmolina/Getty Images]
January 8, 2021
All cancer cells rather than just a subset can enter a sluggish, slow-dividing state if they come under threat. Then, after the threat has passed, they can wake up and begin replicating at full tilt. By entering and leaving a dormant state in such coordinated fashion, the cancer cells can defeat a round of chemotherapy and gain enough time to acquire resistance to additional rounds of chemotherapy.
Curiously, the cancer cells can act like an organism that is going through hibernation. But hibernation isn’t the right word. It’s diapause, a reversible state of suspended embryonic development triggered by unfavorable environmental conditions.