Cancer, wound healing mechanism linked

The link between wound healing and cancer was discovered almost a decade ago, but the biological and curative process was unclear.

After studying muscle tissues in breast cancer, scientists at the laboratory run by Whitehead Institute member Robert Weinberg in Cambridge have discovered a method by which tumors can take control of normal wound-healing processes.

According to the research, which appears in the latest issue of the Journal Cell, the link between wound healing and cancer was discovered almost a decade ago, but the biological and curative process was unclear.

Akira Orimo, a post-doctoral scientist attached with the Weinberg Laboratory, which participated in the Whitehead Institute study investigated the nature of stromal cells (cells which form the connective tissue in a mammal's organs and glands, and also inside a tumor) usually found in breast cancer tumors.

According to Robert Weinberg, a Professor of Biology at MIT, "It turns out the cancer cells are not acting alone. These stromal cells play an important role in helping these cells, and therefore tumors, to grow."

Orimo found that a particular protein produced by the stromal cells and recruited into human breast cancers, called SDF-1, is a key player in helping tumors grow. SDF-1 interacts with a class of cells called endothelial precursor cells. Found primarily in the blood, these cells travel throughout the body and help aid wounded tissue by enabling new blood vessels to form, a process called angiogenesis. They are an integral part of the body's ability to heal itself.

The stromal cells in the breast cancer tumor produce SDF-1, which in turn persuades these endothelial precursor cells to enter the tumor. Once they do, they help the tumor to form its own robust network of blood vessels, weaving a circulatory system throughout the tumor mass. The tumor can now access the nutrients present in the host's circulating blood and can then grow unchecked.

"Essentially, these stromal cells opportunistically exploit the normal wound healing process to benefit the tumor," Weinberg said.

Plans are now afoot to investigate the process further by disturbing the interactions between stromal and cancer cells in the hope of discovering new therapeutic insights.