Breakthrough technology: reversing cancer cells into normal cells

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking new technique that can reverse some cancer cells back to a normal cell-like state without killing them.

Image of breast cancer metastasizing to the liver - Photo: US National Cancer Institute

According to IFLScience on December 26, this is not only a potential new cancer treatment but also helps patients avoid the side effects of other treatments and the risk of drug resistance.

Cancer reversal, returning cancer cells to a differentiated, non-malignant state, has been proposed as a potential new treatment in recent years. Cancer cells are often “undifferentiated,” meaning they lack the characteristics or features of normal cells.

According to Wiki, in developmental biology, cell differentiation is the process by which a cell changes from one type of cell to another. Most commonly, the cell will change into a more specialized type.

IFLScience says that by re-expressing genes involved in differentiation, scientists can help reactivate them and restore their normal function, even achieving “transdifferentiation,” where cancer cells are differentiated into completely different cell types. For example, breast cancer cells are transformed into more specialized liver cells.

Previous studies have demonstrated the reversal of cancer cells associated with myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma (a type of liver cancer). However, researchers have not been able to systematically identify the specific genes or proteins that control the differentiation process – causing this type of differentiation/transdifferentiation. This is an important step in helping scientists manipulate and reprogram cancer cells to become non-cancerous cells.

In their latest research, the team of Professor Kwang Hyun Cho, from the Department of Bioengineering and Brain Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), outlined a new technology that can convert colon cancer cells into normal cells.

Specifically, they developed a technology to build a digital replica of the gene network involved in the normal differentiation trajectory of cells. Through this simulation, they were able to systematically identify the key components that cause normal differentiation.

The research team successfully applied this technology to colon cancer cells, helping the cells return to a normal state .

The work shows that it is possible to reverse the cancerous state of cells by creating and analyzing digital copies of cancer cell genetic networks. This work has the potential to open up new reversible cancer therapies that can be used for many different types of cancer cells.

"The fact that cancer cells can revert to normal cells is an amazing phenomenon. This study demonstrates that such reversal can be systematically induced," said Kwang Hyun Cho.

The study was published in the journal Advance Science.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cong-nghe-dot-pha-dao-nguoc-te-bao-ung-thu-thanh-te-bao-binh-thuong-20241227160550701.htm