Scientists have discovered a ‘switch’ that reverses cancer cells, in what is being described as a major breakthrough.
By activating this molecular level, researchers in South Korea were able to revert cancerous cells back to a healthier stage.
This allowed them to tap into the critical moment before normal cells irreversibly transform into diseased cells and halt the progression.
‘This finding provides a new approach for cancer treatment by rewiring cancer cells rather than eliminating them,’ Dr Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, a retired oncologist formerly at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who was not involved in the study, told DailyMail.com.
To better understand this hybrid state, you can think of water boiling at exactly 212°F, (100c) said Dr Troso-Sandoval.
‘There’s a brief moment when water is neither fully liquid or fully steam,’ similar to how cancer development includes a short window where cells are both healthy and cancerous, she explained.
Traditional cancer treatments focus on removing cancer cells through surgery, or destroying them with radiation or chemotherapy.
But the new research appears to have uncovered a third approach that could allow cancer patients to regain their healthy cells.
In an astounding breakthrough, scientists have discovered a molecular ‘switch’ that can transform cancer cells back into healthy cells (STOCK)
Researchers tested this new treatment mechanism through molecular cell experiments in lab-grown mini-tumors, or organoids, made from colon cancer cells. Their ‘switch’ stopped cancer growth (top left) and reverted cells back to a health state (bottom right)
This could potentially lead to therapies that are less toxic than radiation and chemotherapy, Dr Troso-Sandoval said.
These traditional therapies damage all cells in the body — not just the cancerous ones.
This causes debilitating side effects and can ultimately make patients develop more diseases, including new cancers.
What’s more, the new findings could point to a way to prevent tumor formation in high-risk patients, Dr Troso-Sandoval added, such as people with a family history of the disease or who are regularly exposed to carcinogens like cigarette smoke.
The study also provides ‘a deeper understanding of cancer biology that could lead to more personalized medicine,’ she said.
Co-author of the new research, Kwang-Hyun Cho, a professor of biology at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, said: ‘This study has revealed in detail, at the genetic network level, what changes occur within cells behind the process of cancer development, which has been considered a mystery until now.
‘This is the first study to reveal that an important clue that can revert the fate of [tumor development] is hidden at this very moment of change,’ he added.
Cancer development is not an immediate transformation. It happens gradually as changes to healthy cells’ DNA build up over time, which alters how cells function
Traditional cancer treatments focus on removing cancer cells through surgery, or destroying them with radiation or chemotherapy
Treatments that destroy cancer cells can lead to debilitating side effects, such as fatigue, nausea and hair loss. But Cho’s research team appears to have uncovered a third approach that could allow cancer patients to actually regain their normal cells
Once enough detrimental changes occur, healthy cells turn into abnormally functioning cancer cells.
The of researchers identified a key window during this gradual transition, during which cells enter a short-lived ‘critical transition state’ where they contain both healthy and cancerous traits.
Using a molecular identification system, the team was able to target the mechanisms controlling this transition and identify molecular pathways that pushed cells back to a normal state.
Cho and his colleagues tested this new treatment mechanism through molecular cell experiments in lab-grown mini-tumors, or organoids, made from colon cancer cells.
They identified an enzyme that was hindering the breakdown of certain cancer-related proteins, allowing them to fuel tumor growth.
By blocking the enzyme, the organoids stopped growing and reverted to a healthy state of normal functioning.
The team published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.
While the concept of cell differentiation — or the process of cells changing states — is not new, the mechanism that Cho and his team discovered and its application in cancer treatment is, according to Dr Troso-Sandoval.
