Scientists: Chemotherapy leads to activation of dormant cancer cells

Chemotherapy may provoke cancer spread: scientists discover unexpected effect of treatment

Scientists have found that the use of chemotherapy in the fight against malignant neoplasms can lead to an unexpected consequence – the spread of cancer from the primary site to distant organs due to the activation of dormant cancer cells.

Based on the obtained data, a clinical trial has already been launched to evaluate the safety of the combined use of senolytics (dasatinib and quercetin) together with chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer.

Researchers have established that chemotherapy causes accelerated aging of fibroblasts – a special connective tissue. In this process, cells stop reproducing and begin to secrete substances that provoke inflammatory processes.

During experiments, it was discovered that the combination of senolytic drugs, which destroy aging cells, with the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin significantly reduced the number of aging fibroblasts in the lungs of experimental mice.