Cannibalism in Breast Cancer: The Dangers of Overeating

Sue Haupt; Simon P Keam; Ygal Haupt

doi:10.1016/j.trecan.2019.10.008

Cannibalism in Breast Cancer: The Dangers of Overeating

Trends Cancer. 2019 Dec;5(12):761-762. doi: 10.1016/j.trecan.2019.10.008. Epub 2019 Nov 6.

Authors

Sue Haupt¹, Simon P Keam², Ygal Haupt³

Affiliations

¹ Tumor Suppression Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
² Tumor Suppression Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Cancer Immunology Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Tumor Suppression Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 31813452
DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2019.10.008

Abstract

Cancer cells devouring their neighbours to survive drug treatment is an abhorrent concept. Yet it holds hope for exploring new anticancer treatments. Tonnessen-Murray et al. adopted elegant cell-labelling methods using real-time microscopy to observe 'cellular gorging' by drug-treated cells. They discovered that in response to drug treatment, cells that became 'cannibals' were able to outlive their unindulged neighbours.

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MeSH terms

Antineoplastic Agents*
Breast Neoplasms*
Cannibalism
Humans
Hyperphagia

Substances

Antineoplastic Agents