The progression of cancer has been an extensive study over the years. Key steps in the progression, at least in some solid tumors, have been well mapped.
Lesions to genes that confer risk of cancer accumulate and alter normal cell behaviors, giving rise, scientists believe, to early stage cancer cells that eventually swamp normal cells and become deadly.
Researchers from Yale, however, have discovered a bit of cellular shenanigans that jumpstart cancer. They report in the journal Nature Communications that cells with cancer-causing genes can stay normal and healthy, at least, until the cell division (or cell cycle) speeds up.
“Many people with cancer-causing genes remain healthy for many, many years,’’ said senior author Shangqin Guo, assistant professor of cell biology and a researcher at the Yale Stem Cell Center. “So, in these cases, you have to wonder whether the dogma ‘mutations cause cancer’ is the complete truth.”
This finding may explain why we are more prone to cancer as we age.
More details of this study over at YaleNews.
(Video Credit: YaleCampus/ YouTube)