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Cellular and Molecular Biology

Considering therapy-induced senescence as a mechanism of tumour dormancy contributing to disease recurrence

British Journal of Cancer volume 126, pages 1363–1365 (2022)Cite this article

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Summary

The capability of tumour cells to escape from therapy-induced senescence, as well as cell-non-autonomous functions of senescence, support the premise that senescence could serve as one pathway to tumour dormancy (among others that include quiescence and diapause) that is permissive for disease recurrence. Consequently, the pharmacologic targeting of senescent tumour cells could mitigate the risk for cancer resurgence, thereby enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of cancer chemotherapy.

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Fig. 1: Hypothetical model of the contribution of senescent tumour cells to tumour dormancy.

References

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Acknowledgements

Research support relating to chemotherapy-induced senescence and senolytics in the Gewirtz laboratory is provided by the NIH/NCI through Grants CA 260819 and CA 239706.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan

    Tareq Saleh

  2. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Medicine, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA

    David A. Gewirtz

  3. Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA

    David A. Gewirtz

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  1. Tareq Saleh
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  2. David A. Gewirtz
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TS and DAG contributed to the conceptualisation and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to David A. Gewirtz.

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Saleh, T., Gewirtz, D.A. Considering therapy-induced senescence as a mechanism of tumour dormancy contributing to disease recurrence. Br J Cancer 126, 1363–1365 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-022-01787-6

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