Normal cells become cancerous after being brought back from the brink of suicide, Chinese University researchers have found in a groundbreaking study that may lead to new cancer treatments.
Researchers say their findings show for the first time that normal animal cells can recover from a chemically induced suicide designed to simulate natural cell death called apoptosis - even after they pass certain markers long believed to represent a point of no return.
In addition, the study suggests that the recovery of such cells - and potentially their progression to a cancerous state - can be inhibited by a soya bean extract containing an anticancer compound. The study will be detailed today in the journal, Molecular Biology of the Cell.
'Our finding gives a new route to understand the basic biology and implicates new therapies like enhancing the effect of chemotherapy by inhibiting the cells' recovery,' biology professor Fung Ming-chiu said. 'It's important patients receive chemotherapy under a doctor's guidance to make sure the cells die thoroughly.'
The research builds on a 2009 study, in which the same team showed that human cancer cells could be resuscitated after key cellular structures had passed 'critical checkpoints' of decay, including significant shrinkage and a breakdown in DNA.
The breakthrough could help explain why cancer returns after going into remission.