PLoS Biology: How Normal Cells Can Win the Battle for Survival Against Cancer Cells
plosbiology.org
Interesting paper from the June issue of PLOS Biology on the mechanisms of healthy cell destruction and survival when cancers try to expand.
During the early stages of tumorigenesis, cancerous cells undergo rapid and uncontrolled cell division as they invade the surrounding tissue. How tumors create space around them to accomplish this invasion is not well understood. A recent study showed that cancerous cells in fruit flies manage this feat by inducing neighboring cells to spontaneously destroy themselves and then filling the vacated space left behind in a process known as cell competition. In this issue of PLoS Biology, Yoichiro Tamori et al. provide evidence that this battle also occurs in mammalian tissues and uncover what determines the winners and losers when cells compete.