Anti-ageing therapy against metastases

A preclinical study conducted at the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI) reveals the role of aging cells in the formation of metastases and identifies a drug capable of blocking them. The work of the group of researchers in Switzerland, Italy and the United States, led by Prof. Andrea Alimonti, is published in the important scientific journal Cancer Cell. Context Following specific therapies, aging tumour cells stop proliferating. This cell ageing process is called senescence. In cancer therapy, it is deliberately induced with drugs to slow down tumour growth. However, such senescent tumour cells can, in certain conditions, also take the opposite path, which is undesirable in therapy: they become more aggressive and form metastases. The findings In the laboratories of the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI), researchers identified a specific gene - TIMP1 - that pushes senescent cancer cells to play an active role in the formation of metastases.