Ponente
Descripción
Despite the improvements in cancer treatment over the past decades, tumor recurrence and metastases are still the main concern for the therapy's success [1]. Tumors are composed by a heterogenous population of cells, among which the Circulating Cancer Stem Cells (CCSCs) are the real responsible for metastasis formation. These cells are radioresistant and express markers critical for migration and stemness (CD133), resistance to anoikis (TrKB) and immune evasion (CD47) [2]. An essential role in forming these cells is due to hypoxia. Moreover, a further selection is possible after exposing them to radiation. Photon irradiation could increase the CCSCs subpopulation, nevertheless particle irradiation (such as proton irradiation) could result in an increased treatment efficiency of cancer cells with a CCSC phenotype [3]. Identifying this subpopulation of cells in the blood circulation is challenging, since they are present only in few numbers in the bloodstream. Therefore, the possibility of culturing and characterizing this subpopulation of cells in vitro would significantly increase our knowledge about the mechanisms responsible for metastasis formation. For this purpose, in this study, we select cells with a CCSC-like phenotype using hypoxia (acute and chronic) and radiation (4 Gy of X-rays), for further characterization. This study will shed light on the mechanisms responsible for the CCSCs formation.
[1] Riggio, A.I., Varley, K.E. & Welm, A.L. The lingering mysteries of metastatic recurrence in breast cancer. Br J Cancer 124, 13–26 (2021).
[2] Quartieri M., Puspitasari A., Vitacchio T., Durante M., Tinganelli W. The role of hypoxia and irradiation in developing a CTC-like phenotype in murine osteosarcoma cells. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023.
[3] Tinganelli W, Durante M. Tumor Hypoxia and Circulating Tumor Cells. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21(24):9592.
