Future Chemotherapy Could Target Tumor Cell Social Interactions

As an example they site the behavior of some types of cancer that revert to a dormant, unresponsive state when challenged by drug treatment. Absence of the drug stimulates a signaling process that reawakens the tumor.

“Cancer is a sophisticated enemy. There is growing evidence that cancer cells use advanced communications to work together to enslave normal cells, create metastases, resist drugs, and decoy the body’s immune system,” said first author Dr. Eshel Ben-Jacob, professor of physics at Tel Aviv University. “If we can break the communication code, we may be able to prevent the cells from going dormant or to reawaken them for a well-timed chemotherapeutic attack. This is just one example. Our extensive studies of the social lives of bacteria suggest a number of others, including sending signals that trigger the cancer cells to turn upon themselves and kill one another.”

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