‘Tumor stem cells’ with ‘Mex3a’ protein activity are in trouble
One in 25 people worldwide will develop colon cancer among colorectal cancers (rectal and colon cancer) during their lifetime. About 2 million people are newly diagnosed with colon cancer every year. Colon cancer patients are usually treated with chemotherapy and have a pretty good effect at first, but they often recur over time and suffer great pain. The results of a study that first identified the reason why many colon cancer patients relapse after chemotherapy have been published have been published.
A research team at the University of Barcelona in Spain revealed that a specific gene (Mex3a) has been identified as a risk factor for colon cancer recurrence. It has been found that tumor stem cells with a specific protein (Mex3a) activity remain dormant (dormant) and then reactivate after chemotherapy, causing recurrence. In particular, tumor stem cells have been shown to confer chemotherapy-resistant properties (resistance).
It is expected that a new therapeutic agent targeting this specific gene will be developed and used in combination with conventional chemotherapy to significantly lower the risk of colon cancer recurrence.
Lead author of the study, Dr. Eduard Batlle, said, “Because of the action of chemotherapy drugs, tumor stem cells die in a state similar to embryonic cells, that is, dormant, and then reactivate to regenerate the tumor when the environment is favorable after chemotherapy. do,” he said. These persistent cells (tumor stem cells) that survive the chemotherapy drug are responsible for the recurrence of rectal cancer. Dr. Batttt is the director of the Institute of Colorectal Cancer of the Institute of Biomedical Research in Barcelona (IRB Barcelona) and a researcher at the Catalan Institute (ICREA) in Spain.
The research team mainly used organoids, which are tumor samples from patients with rectal cancer (or a mouse model of advanced colon cancer), for the study. Organoids are stem cells grown in vitro and made to resemble human organs. Using this, it is possible to reproduce the complexity of the tumor in terms of its three-dimensional structure. The team compared the findings from the organoids and mice with transcriptomic analysis of patient samples.
The results of this study (Mex3a marks drug-tolerant persister colorectal cancer cells that mediate relapse after chemotherapy) were published in the academic journal Nature Cancer and were introduced by MedicalXpress, an American health medical media.
By Kim Young-seop, staff reporter edwdkim@kormedi.com
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