Learn more about Acute Myeloid Leukemia and ONUREG (CNW Group/Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co.)
AML is a heterogeneous clonal disorder characterized by immature myeloid cell proliferation and bone marrow failure, and is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults, accounting for approximately 80 per cent of adult cases.
2,3,4 An estimated 40-60 per cent of patients aged 60 years and older and 60-80 per cent of patients under 60 years old will obtain complete remission through induction chemotherapy (IC); however, 50 per cent will relapse within a year.
5,6 Once a relapse occurs, long-term survival averages at six months.
7 In 2015, an estimated 1,235 Canadians were diagnosed with AML and the overall incidence rate in Canada is 3.46/100,000 people.
A new study, published in the journal
Cell, reveals that cancer cells have learned to adapt an ancient evolutionary mechanism to survive the harsh chemotherapy. They have learned to hibernate like bears in winter to survive through periods when the source is scarce, ScienceAlert reported.
Princess Margaret scientist Dr. Catherine O Brien and team discovered that cancer cells enter a state of sluggish and slow-dividing state when they are under threat due to chemotherapy. They have the ability to transition into this state of rest until the threat is removed.
Understanding the hibernation of cancer cells could play a significant role in future research about cancer. It is as important as knowing how cancer cells evade and stand up to drug treatments towards defeating them for good because often they can return even after staying dormant for several years after treatment.
Hibernating cancer cells may explain relapse after chemotherapy
Cancer seems to have hijacked a survival mechanism employed by hibernating animals during times of high stress.
The Himalayan black bears go in hibernation during winters. To survive this winter period, the bears need to eat and store fats before they go to hibernate. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Cancer is extremely tricky to get rid of. Even after a successful therapy that has seemingly extinguished a tumor, cancer can return unexpectedly years later. According to a new study, this happens as a result of cancer cells entering a dormant state that allows them to evade destruction from chemotherapy. The same cellular process is employed by some hibernating animals in nature.
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Stiffness in our tissues causes tension in our cells. Research from the Buck Institute, the University Health Network (University of Toronto), Stanford University, and the University of Alberta shows that stiffness impacts the innate immune system by upping its metabolism. The findings suggest the cellular tension likely sets off an inflammatory loop that contributes to the development of chronic diseases of aging. Publishing in
Cell Reports, Buck Associate Professor Dan Winer, MD, and colleagues present an emerging way of looking at how the immune system functions, possibilities for new immunotherapeutics, and a call for scientists to reconsider the way they do research.