Distinct mutations in separate cells can cooperate to cause cancer in fruitflies, a Nature study reveals. Similar mechanisms might have a role in the development of human cancers.

Single cells become cancerous when cancer-causing mutations cooperate to trigger uncontrolled cell growth. Tian Xu and colleagues now show that such cooperation can occur between single cancer-causing mutations in separate, neighbouring cells. The finding fits with the heterogeneous nature of most cancers, and the team show that this cooperation involves the JNK and JAK/STAT signalling pathways.


Source DOI: 10.1038/nature08702