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Single-Cell Insights on Inaccessible Tumor Environments Expand Therapeutic Options
Patient with melanoma leptomeningeal metastasis [Keiran Smalley/The Moffitt Cancer Center]
June 3, 2021
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While melanoma, a form of skin cancer that begins in the pigmented cells of the skin (melanocytes), is less common than other types of skin cancer, its seriousness lies in its ability to spread to other organs if not treated at an early stage. In nearly 75% patients, autopsy reveals the metastasis of melanoma to the central nervous system (CNS).
Of these, patients with the worst prognosis and rapid disease progression are those in whom melanoma spreads to the leptomeninges, the two innermost layers of the meninges that cover and protect the brain (leptomeningeal melanoma metastases, LMM).
In a new article published in Clinical Cancer Research, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers reveal how different therapies impact the surrounding immune environment of metastatic melanoma tumors according to location and identify a rare population of immune cells that is associated with improved overall survival.
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TAMPA, Fla. Evolution within groups of tumor cells follows the principles of natural selection, as evolution in pathogenic microbes. That is, the diversity of cellular characteristics within a group leads to differences in the ability of cells to survive and divide, which leads to selection for cells that bear characteristics that are most fit to the malignant environment. The ability to continuously create a diverse set of new cellular features enables cancers to develop the ability to grow in new tissue environments and to acquire resistance to anti-cancer drugs. The diversity of cell characteristics within groups of cancer cells can be created by a number of well-characterized mechanisms, including small-scale mutations, large-scale genomic changes involving losses, gains and reshuffling of large pieces of DNA, as well as by nongenetic mechanisms that create lasting changes in cellular features. At the same time, scientists generally believe that cancers lack a powerfu
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TAMPA, Fla. - Cells need energy to survive and thrive. Generally, if oxygen is available, cells will oxidize glucose to carbon dioxide, which is very efficient, much like burning gasoline in your car. However, even in the presence of adequate oxygen, many malignant cells choose instead to ferment glucose to lactic acid, which is a much less efficient process. This metabolic adaptation is referred to as the Warburg Effect, as it was first described by Otto Warburg almost a century ago. Ever since, the conditions that would evolutionarily select for cells to exhibit a Warburg Effect have been in debate, as it is much less efficient and produces toxic waste products.