The molecule ARF protects healthy cells by switching off signals that may otherwise turn them cancerous, according to Cancer Research UK scientists based at the University of Dundee.

Although ARF was known to play an important role in protecting against cancer, the scientists were interested in discovering whether the molecule could prevent some of the critical stages in the disease’s development.

They found that administering ARF to cancer cells “knocks out” the action of another molecule called NF-kappaB, a signal which under certain circumstances encourages healthy cells to mutate into cancerous ones.

In healthy tissue, NF-kappaB is usually switched on in response to infection or cell damage. This helps tissue to recover and keeps damaged cells alive. However, in cancer its function is subverted, and the same abilities allow tumors to resist the cell-killing effects of chemotherapy.

The researchers believe that during the development of cancer, ARF may become inactivated, leaving NF-kappaB free to encourage the disease to progress. They suggest that by blocking NF-kappaB, cells can be prevented from responding to cancer-promoting messages that tell them to grow, divide or metastasize.

If the scientists could mimic the action of ARF, they say it could result in an exciting cancer strategy, which allows clinicians to kill cancer cells outright or make them more sensitive to the effects of chemotherapy.

Dr Neil Perkins, who led the team, says, “We’ve uncovered an important natural mechanism which protects healthy cells from cancer, but which we think occasionally malfunctions to allow some cancerous cells to slip through the net.

“Knowing how the safeguard works is an important advance, because it highlights a new and potentially valuable route to attack cancer cells.”

Dr Richard Sullivan, head of clinical programs for Cancer Research UK, says, “This study has suggested an intriguing new avenue of attack against cancer, which aims to exploit one of the body’s own defence mechanisms to keep the disease at bay.”


Source: Cancer Research UK

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