A growing body of research shows that cilia, minuscule protuberances on the surface of some cells, play a pivotal role in determining whether cancer cells grow, spread, and respond to therapy.

In a perspective article discussing current research published in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer, Erica Golemis, PhD, deputy chief science officer at Fox Chase Cancer Center, and co-authors from China and Russia, report that a new understanding of cilia has implications for the behaviour of cancer drugs and tumours.

“Both tumour progression and therapeutic response depend on interactions between cancer cells and nearby non-cancerous cells within the tumour microenvironment,” according to the perspective.

Golemis noted that some tumours and targeted cancer therapies can manipulate cells to either generate cilia or repress them, and that the unexpected absence or presence of cilia leads to confused communication among the cells, which supports cancer growth.

According to the perspective, because cilia protrude into the extracellular space, they are positioned as spatially restricted hubs that can receive cues from other cells. Several non-cancer cells have important roles in carcinogenesis and can exchange information with cancer cells to alternately promote tumour growth, provide resistance to environmental stresses or cancer therapies, or support metastasis.

The findings on cilia may eventually be used to help direct clinical decision-making.

“We and others are starting to realize that some targeted cancer drugs and chemotherapies change whether cells in the tumour microenvironment have cilia,” Golemis said. “Understanding the effects of tumours and drugs on ciliation is potentially paradigm shifting.”

Source: Fox Chase Cancer Centre