New Findings in Regulating Skin Cancer Stem Cells
New studies suggest that skin squamous cell carcinoma, like many other human cancers, contain certain cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, that present increased self-renewal potential that sustain tumor growth. Not much is known about the mechanisms that regulate cancer stem cell functions. Skin squamous cell carcinomas are one of the most frequently occurring cancers in humans.
To determine whether VEGF secretion by cancer stem cells directly regulates the function of cancer stem cells, the authors genetically removed VEGF specifically in tumour cells, and found that upon VEGF ablation, skin cancer stem cells are rapidly lost due to a defect in their renewal properties, leading to tumour regression.
“It was extremely exciting to see the complete disappearance of these tumors only two weeks after the treatment” said Benjamin Beck, the first author of the Nature paper.