Two new studies reveal new vulnerabilities of aneuploid cancer cells

The first study focuses on cancer cells with an abnormal number of chromosomes, a phenomenon characteristic of many types of cancer. The researchers developed special models of such cells and examined how they function in detail. They discovered that these cells manage DNA damage better than normal cells, but they have a weakness: they depend on a cellular signaling pathway called RAF/MEK/ERK to survive.

The researchers showed that this dependency can be exploited to target cancer cells – for example, by using drugs that inhibit this pathway or combining such drugs with chemotherapies that cause DNA damage in the cells. These findings could help develop new treatments or improve existing cancer drugs.

Full study: Nature

The second study also deals with aneuploid cancer cells (cells with an abnormal number of chromosomes) and how they cope with their unbalanced state. These cells face the burden of gene transcription and stress from faulty proteins. To survive, they increase the degradation of RNA and proteins, which helps them maintain balance.

As a result, the researchers found that aneuploid cells are more vulnerable to damage to these mechanisms – meaning, to the inhibition of RNA degradation or protein breakdown in the cell. This finding was observed in other cancer cells and in primary tumors from patients, suggesting its clinical relevance. The study suggests that this vulnerability could be exploited to develop new, targeted cancer treatments, especially for aneuploid cells.

Full study: AACR Journals