A protein known as FLIP may stop metastatic cancer cells from dying and could be a good target for drug development.
Unlike normal cells, metastatic cancer cells do not respond to signals that tell the cells to die. These signals occur when cells lose physical contact with their normal surroundings.
Aaron Schimmer, M.D., Ph.D., of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues demonstrated that high levels of the FLIP protein prevent cancer cells from dying after they lose contact with their surroundings. The researchers also used chemical and genetic approaches to block FLIP expression in prostate cancer cells. Then they monitored the survival of the cells and measured the formation of metastatic tumors in mice injected with the cells.
The researchers found that by blocking FLIP expression they increased cell death and reduced metastasis in the mice.
“Data from gene expression profiling from other tumor sites also suggest that FLIP overexpression is associated with an increased mortality in patients with prostate, breast, and lung cancers. Thus, these results raise the possibility that FLIP is a potential target for novel anticancer therapies,” the authors write.