Mouse Model Shows The Role Of Cell Signalling In Growth Of Cervical Cancer

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 29 Jan 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Cervical cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in women worldwide and is the leading cause of cancer death for women in developing countries. In research published in this week's PLoS Medicine, Douglas Hanahan (University of California San Francisco, USA) and colleagues investigate how cell signalling in the stroma - the tissue that surrounds a tumour - plays a role in the progression of cervical cancer. Using a mouse model of cervical cancer, the researchers looked at a protein that is made by the tumor cells known as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). The research finds that the signaling in the stromal cells triggered by the release of this protein stimulates the growth of the tumor.

In a separate perspective article, Rakesh Jain (Harvard Medical School, USA) and colleagues, who were not involved in the study, suggest that the results offer a "foundation for development of new approaches to the treatment of cervical cancer" that target PDGF signaling to slow the progression of the disease.

Functions of paracrine PDGF signaling in the proangiogenic tumor stroma revealed by pharmacological targeting
Pietras K, Pahler J, Bergers G, Hanahan D
PLoS Med 5(1): e19.
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