Chemotherapy can undermine itself by causing a rogue response in healthy cells, which could explain why people become resistant, a study suggests.
Writing in Nature Medicine, US experts said chemo causes wound-healing cells around tumours to make a protein that helps the cancer resist treatment.
In this study, by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle looked at fibroblast cells, which normally play a critical role in wound healing and the production of collagen, the main component of connective tissue such as tendons.
It was already known that the protein was involved in the development of cancers - but not in treatment resistance. The researchers hope their findings will help find a way to stop this response, and improve the effectiveness of therapy.
Peter Nelson, who led the research, said: "Cancer therapies are increasingly evolving to be very specific, targeting key molecular engines that drive the cancer rather than more generic vulnerabilities, such as damaging DNA.
Prof Fran Balkwill, a Cancer Research UK expert on the microenvironment around tumours, said: "This work fits with other research showing that cancer treatments don't just affect cancer cells, but can also target cells in and around tumours.
"Sometimes this can be good - for instance, chemotherapy can stimulate surrounding healthy immune cells to attack tumours. "But this work confirms that healthy cells surrounding the tumour can also help the tumour to become resistant to treatment. "The next step is to find ways to target these resistance mechanisms to help make chemotherapy more effective."
Bron: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19111700
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