Probing the protection mechanisms of colorectal cancer The microenvironment around a tumour acts as a protective layer and helps prevent immune cells from entering. The team behind the PLASTICAN project aim to characterise the cellular composition of the microenvironment around a tumour, and are looking at whether interfering with it could lead to improved treatment of colorectal cancer, as Professor Florian Greten explains. Colorectal cancer is one of the most
stroma around a tumour is just host tissue that is not mutated.”
common forms of cancer amongst both men and women, particularly in developed countries. Late stage tumours continue to have a very poor prognosis due to the lack of convincing therapeutic options, while the growing number of people below the age of 50 that are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer is causing widespread concern. “It’s a worrying development,” says Professor Florian Greten, director of the GeorgSpeyer Haus Institute for Tumour Biology and Experimental Therapy in Frankfurt, where he leads a research group. As Principal Investigator of the ERC-backed PLASTICAN project, Professor Greten is investigating how colorectal cancer depends on the surrounding microenvironment. “The microenvironment is the host tissue, the non-mutated cells,” he explains. “A tumour cell is a malignant cell with mutations in the DNA profile, while the
Tumour microenvironment The microenvironment around a tumour effectively protects it and supports its growth. Stromal cells or fibroblasts shield the tumour for example and prevent immune cells from entering, which then has significant wider effects. “When immune cells are unable to enter tumour cells, they cannot really eliminate them,” says Professor Greten. In the PLASTICAN project, Professor Greten and his colleagues are working to characterise the cellular composition of the tumour microenvironment, which could in future open up new possibilities in the treatment of late-stage colorectal cancer. “We’re looking at the role of different fibroblasts in the miroenvironment. It’s now known that a tumour can induce polarisation of various Credit: Andreas Reeg, Georg-Speyer-Haus.
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