Khaberni - A German research team has uncovered a new mechanism that helps understand the reason behind the aggressiveness of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which is one of the most dangerous and challenging cancers to treat.
Small cell lung cancer is considered one of the deadliest tumors, as the five-year survival rate does not exceed 5%, despite its initial responsiveness to chemotherapy, because it often rapidly recurs.
A study published in Nature Communications, led by Professor Silvia von Karstedt, revealed a new mechanism explaining the aggressiveness of this type of cancer. This type, unlike other epithelial cell cancers, exhibits features similar to neuronal cells, including the lack of "caspase-8" protein, which is responsible for programmed cell death and is essential for removing damaged or mutated cells.
The team developed a new model of genetically modified mice lacking "caspase-8", and observed that the absence of the protein leads to a type of cell death called "programmed necrosis", which creates an inflammatory environment that facilitates tumor growth.
The surprising finding is that this early inflammation not only harms the body but also primes the immune system in favor of cancer, transforming cancer cells into a state similar to immature neural cells, making them more aggressive, faster to spread, and resistant to treatment, and is associated with relapses of the disease.
This discovery opens new avenues for developing precise treatments and possibly early diagnostic methods that could save lives.
