Understanding cancer cell subclones opens door to more personalized treatment
Cancer treatment often fails because some cancer cells become resistant to drugs. A new study has analyzed over 375,000 individual cancer cells to better understand how cancer evolves and adapts inside the body.
Using advanced techniques, the researchers from LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, UCPH, have been able to see which genes are switched on in each cell, and which specific DNA changes that drive the cancer.
The results show that in more than 80% of patients, the cancer consists of several distinct subgroups of cancer cells, so called subclones. These subclones differ in how aggressive they are and how resistant they are to treatment.
“We found that some of these cancer subclones hide deep in the skin, while others circulate in the bloodstream. Each group adapts to its own environment and may play different roles in how the cancer grows and resists treatment,” says Terkild B. Buus, Assistant Professor and Dr. Abildgaard Fellow at LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, UCPH.
This research gives new hope: by identifying which cancer subclones dominate a patient’s body and how they react to infections and drugs, we can design smarter, more personalized treatments.
Cancer cells’ diversity can be exploited for new treatment
The researchers explain that cancer cells within a patient are not all the same but develop into specialized subclones that coexist. Some subclones take advantage of inflammation and bacterial infections to become more aggressive, while others are naturally resistant to treatments.
This is especially true for a rare cancer called leukemic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (L-CTCL), where patients often also suffer from serious bacterial infections.
The new study shows that patients with L-CTCL don’t have just one type of cancer cell, but many different subclones. These subclones all developed from the same original cancer but behave differently. They spread to different parts of the body, use energy in different ways, and react differently to infections and treatments.
The researchers found that toxins from a common bacteria Staphylococcus aureus can fuel the growth of some cancer subclones. Interestingly, these same subclones become more responsive to cancer treatment, if the bacteria are removed first.
"Our study shows that the cancer’s ability to adapt may come from having different subclones working in parallel. But this diversity also leaves cracks in their armor that new treatments can potentially exploit," says Terkild B. Buus and continues:
"This research gives new hope: by identifying which cancer subclones dominate a patient’s body and how they react to infections and drugs, we can design smarter, more personalized treatments.”
These new results have just been published in the scientific journal Cancer Discovery with Assistant Professor Terkild B. Buus and Professor Niels Ødum from the LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, UCPH as the main contributors.
Read more
The scientific article in Cancer Discovery can be found here