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Cancer cells employ an evolutionarily conserved polyploidization program to resist therapy

Pienta, K. J. ; Hammarlund, E. U. LU ; Austin, R. H. ; Axelrod, R. ; Brown, J. S. and Amend, S. R. (2022) In Seminars in Cancer Biology 81. p.145-159
Abstract

Unusually large cancer cells with abnormal nuclei have been documented in the cancer literature since 1858. For more than 100 years, they have been generally disregarded as irreversibly senescent or dying cells, too morphologically misshapen and chromatin too disorganized to be functional. Cell enlargement, accompanied by whole genome doubling or more, is observed across organisms, often associated with mitigation strategies against environmental change, severe stress, or the lack of nutrients. Our comparison of the mechanisms for polyploidization in other organisms and non-transformed tissues suggest that cancer cells draw from a conserved program for their survival, utilizing whole genome doubling and pausing proliferation to survive... (More)

Unusually large cancer cells with abnormal nuclei have been documented in the cancer literature since 1858. For more than 100 years, they have been generally disregarded as irreversibly senescent or dying cells, too morphologically misshapen and chromatin too disorganized to be functional. Cell enlargement, accompanied by whole genome doubling or more, is observed across organisms, often associated with mitigation strategies against environmental change, severe stress, or the lack of nutrients. Our comparison of the mechanisms for polyploidization in other organisms and non-transformed tissues suggest that cancer cells draw from a conserved program for their survival, utilizing whole genome doubling and pausing proliferation to survive stress. These polyaneuploid cancer cells (PACCs) are the source of therapeutic resistance, responsible for cancer recurrence and, ultimately, cancer lethality.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Convergent evolution, Lethal cancer, Polyploid giant cancer cells, Therapeutic resistance, Whole genome doubling
in
Seminars in Cancer Biology
volume
81
pages
145 - 159
publisher
Academic Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:33276091
  • scopus:85097755342
ISSN
1044-579X
DOI
10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.11.016
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a25aa642-e4fa-408a-90f3-e55dca3c1ce9
date added to LUP
2021-01-12 08:16:09
date last changed
2024-04-03 21:03:06
@article{a25aa642-e4fa-408a-90f3-e55dca3c1ce9,
  abstract     = {{<p>Unusually large cancer cells with abnormal nuclei have been documented in the cancer literature since 1858. For more than 100 years, they have been generally disregarded as irreversibly senescent or dying cells, too morphologically misshapen and chromatin too disorganized to be functional. Cell enlargement, accompanied by whole genome doubling or more, is observed across organisms, often associated with mitigation strategies against environmental change, severe stress, or the lack of nutrients. Our comparison of the mechanisms for polyploidization in other organisms and non-transformed tissues suggest that cancer cells draw from a conserved program for their survival, utilizing whole genome doubling and pausing proliferation to survive stress. These polyaneuploid cancer cells (PACCs) are the source of therapeutic resistance, responsible for cancer recurrence and, ultimately, cancer lethality.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pienta, K. J. and Hammarlund, E. U. and Austin, R. H. and Axelrod, R. and Brown, J. S. and Amend, S. R.}},
  issn         = {{1044-579X}},
  keywords     = {{Convergent evolution; Lethal cancer; Polyploid giant cancer cells; Therapeutic resistance; Whole genome doubling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{145--159}},
  publisher    = {{Academic Press}},
  series       = {{Seminars in Cancer Biology}},
  title        = {{Cancer cells employ an evolutionarily conserved polyploidization program to resist therapy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.11.016}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.11.016}},
  volume       = {{81}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}