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Article: Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular self-cannibalization to survive
- Article from:
- Xinhua News Agency
- Article date:
- January 4, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Xinhua News Agency. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular self-cannibalization to
survive
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A single tumor-suppressing gene is
a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer
cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken years
later, a recent study revealed.
Researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center reported in the December Journal of Clinical Investigation
that their team found that expression of a gene called ARHI acts as
a switch for autophagy, or self-cannibalization, in ovarian cancer
cells.
Often a mechanism for cancer cell death, in this case "self-
eating" acts as a survival mechanism for dormant cancer cells.
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