Surprise! Dying cancer cells also leave "last words" to neighboring tumor cells to instruct how to survive!?

In Germany, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause
of cancer death.
Although cancer research in recent years has been able to significantly improve early diagnosis and treatment, resistance to conventional chemotherapy for advanced colorectal tumors remains a major problem and largely contributes to the high mortality
rate of patients with such tumors.

When chemotherapy drugs cause colon cancer cells to die, they release ATP (adenosine triphosphate) molecules, which act as the cell's energy currency, acting as messenger substances
.
Researchers led by Professor Florian Greten of George Speyer House College have now confirmed this
experimentally.
This ATP binds to certain receptors
(P2X4 purine receptors) on the surface of surrounding tumor cells.
This activates important survival signaling pathways in these neighboring cells, protecting them from cell death and making tumors resistant to treatment
.

Cells killed by chemotherapy "warn" neighboring cells while providing them with survival strategies
.
However, if communication between dead tumor cells and their neighbors were interrupted — as scientists have shown in preclinical models — this would make chemotherapy many times more efficient, and tumors that initially became resistant to chemotherapy responded very well
to it.

Dr Mark Schmitt, lead author of the study, explains: "Our findings show that despite the success of years of research, unknown mechanisms are still being discovered, which shows us how tumour cells treacherously evade treatment
.
Our results now provide a new and promising starting point to dramatically improve the response rate of advanced colorectal cancer to common chemotherapy drugs through combination therapy
.
" ”

Professor Florian Greten, Director of the George Speye-House Centre and Spokesperson for the LOEWE Centre at the Frankfurt Cancer Institute, explains: "We were surprised to find that tumour cells have developed communication mechanisms that even dying cells can play an active role
in ensuring the survival of their neighbours when treating 'attack'.
We very much hope that by interrupting communication between cells, we can also achieve a huge improvement
in the effect of standard therapy in patients.
The team now hopes to work with colleagues at the Frankfurt Cancer Institute to test this new treatment concept
on patients.