A possible revolutionary solution to treat a very aggressive form of childhood cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, which develops in muscle tissue, has been discovered by scientists. They were able to convert cells affected by rhabdomyosarcoma into healthy muscle cells, marking a significant advance in the fight against this form of cancer.
This discovery could pave the way for the development of innovative therapies to treat this aggressive cancer and could lead to similar advances in treating other types of human cancer.
The specialists noticed that the rhabdomyosarcoma cells underwent a significant transformation, literally becoming healthy and normal muscle cells. This process resulted in the loss of cancer characteristics, causing the cells to go from a stage where they multiplied uncontrollably to a stage where they behaved like muscle cells with contractile functions.
A diagram illustrating the transformation of rhabdomyosarcoma into muscle cells. Differentiated cells show the attributes of normal muscle cells, including a new elongated shape. (Vakoc Laboratory/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Rhabdomyosarcoma is a cancerous condition that occurs when muscle cells undergo mutations. This form of cancer mainly affects children and adolescents and tends to develop in skeletal muscles, where cells undergo mutations that cause uncontrolled growth and tumor formation.
Rhabdomyosarcoma is usually very aggressive and often fatal, with survival rates between 50% and 70% for intermediate-risk categories.
In recent years, differentiation therapy has gained increasing attention in the treatment of cancer. This therapy forces cancer cells to develop into mature, functional cells. In previous research, this approach was successful in reversing cancer cell mutations in Ewing’s sarcoma, another type of childhood cancer.
Scientists have now developed a similar method for rhabdomyosarcoma, using a genetic screening technique to identify the genes responsible for turning cancer cells into muscle cells. The key protein in this process has been identified as nuclear transcription factor Y (NF-Y).
Deactivating this protein in rhabdomyosarcoma cells resulted in the elimination of cancer activity and their transformation into mature, functional muscle cells. This discovery could represent an important step in the development of differentiation therapy for this form of cancer and could have similar applications in treating other types of cancer.
Specialists point out that this research provides the necessary tools to transform cancer cells into healthy cells and that this method could be applied to other types of cancer as well, with the potential to revolutionize existing therapies.
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2023-08-31 19:50:57
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