The study emphasizes the need for careful consideration when selecting chemotherapy regimens and proposes incorporating additional strategies to enhance safety and effectiveness.

According to a report published in Cancer Cell on 3/7, Chinese researchers experimented on mice and observed that using certain chemotherapy drugs, such as doxorubicin and cisplatin, could activate dormant breast cancer cells, causing them to reactivate and metastasize to the lungs.

Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) can exist in the body from the early stages of cancer but remain dormant for years, unaffected by chemotherapy. According to the research team, chemotherapy in some cases causes stromal cells, known as fibroblasts, to enter a state of senescence. This then triggers an inflammatory response and alters the surrounding tissue environment, creating conditions for dormant cancer cells to reactivate and grow again.

Previous studies in the US have also shown that high-dose radiation therapy can have a paradoxical effect, increasing the risk of metastasis.

Illustration of a cancer patient undergoing treatment. Photo: *Cancer Center*

For a more detailed assessment, Professor Hu Guohong from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health (under the Chinese Academy of Sciences - CAS), in collaboration with colleagues from Fudan University and Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, developed a model to monitor the dormant state of DTCs.

The research team emphasizes that combining chemotherapy drugs with anti-senescence drugs like dasatinib and quercetin has shown to reduce senescent fibroblasts and limit the pre-metastatic environment in the lungs of mice.

A phase II clinical trial is underway to evaluate the safety of this combination therapy in patients with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive and difficult-to-treat type of cancer.

The authors conclude: "Understanding the external risk factors that activate DTCs can help control the condition in cancer survivors, preventing the risk of metastatic recurrence after initial treatment".

Thuc Linh (From Cancer Cell)