Cancer cells cheat suicide call
Cancer cells cheat death by reversing a process which causes normal cells to commit suicide at the end of their natural life, researchers from the University of Hong Kong have shown.
The researchers treated human cervical, skin, liver and breast cancer cells each with three different chemicals , jasplakinolide, staurosporine and ethanol, which triggers apoptosis in normal cells. They wanted to see if cancer cells could survive once they have passed the point of no return for normal cell death. The researchers found the cancer cells recovered once the chemical cocktail had been removed,
even after the cells had passed normal critical checkpoints.
When the chemicals were removed, the cancer cells regained their shape, function and continued to divide. They only lost the ability to recover once the nucleus at the very heart of the cell containing key genetic material had started to disintegrate, an event right at the end of the normal cell suicide process. The researchers state that the study suggested that cancer cells could use this ability to survive
assault by chemotherapy drugs.