Zhang Xiaonan, De Milito Angelo, Demiroglu-Zergeroglu Asuman, Gullbo Joachim, D'Arcy Padraig, Linder Stig
Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden; Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
Trends Cancer. 2016 Nov;2(11):657-663. doi: 10.1016/j.trecan.2016.10.009. Epub 2016 Nov 11.
The presence of quiescent cell populations in solid tumors represents a major challenge for disease eradication. Such cells are generally present in poorly vascularized tumor areas, show limited sensitivity to traditional chemotherapeutical drugs, and tend to resume proliferation, resulting in tumor reseeding and growth. There is growing recognition of the importance of developing therapies that target these quiescent cell populations to achieve long-lasting remission. Recent studies have shown that the combination of hypoxia and reduced nutrient availability in poorly vascularized areas results in limited tumor metabolic plasticity coupled with an increased sensitivity to perturbations in mitochondrial flux. Targeting of mitochondrial bioenergetics in these quiescent cell tumor populations may enable tumor eradication and improve the prognosis of patients with cancer.
