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Current Cancer Drug Targets

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1568-0096
ISSN (Online): 1873-5576

Induction of Senescent-Like Growth Arrest as a New Target in Anticancer Treatment

Author(s): Xianghong Wang, Sai-Wah Tsao, Yong-Chuan Wong and Annie L.M. Cheung

Volume 3, Issue 2, 2003

Page: [153 - 159] Pages: 7

DOI: 10.2174/1568009033482001

Price: $65

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Abstract

Replicative senescence is a programmed cellular response in normal cells, the induction of which depends on the accumulated number of cell divisions. Unlike cells undergoing apoptosis, senescent cells have a large and flat morphology, express acidic β-galactosidase (β-gal) and show a permanent cell cycle G1 phase arrest. Recently, senescent-like growth arrest has been observed in many types of tumor cell lines after exposure to certain chemotherapeutic drugs. These senescent-like cancer cells show similar morphology, growth arrest and β-gal expression to normal cells undergoing replicative senescence. However, unlike replicative senescence during the aging process, the chemodrug-induced senescent-like growth arrest is independent of cell cycle distribution, telomere length or cell cycle inhibitors. These observations suggest that induction of senescentlike response may provide a novel target leading to permanent growth arrest in cancer cells. So far, cell lines derived from more than 14 types of cancers have shown senescent-like growth arrest by either introduction of tumor suppressor genes or treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs. In addition, the drug-induced β-gal expression has been correlated with cancer cells undergoing terminal senescent-like growth arrest, which provides a possible marker for this process. This review will describe the evidence on senescent-like growth arrest in human cancer cells and the molecular changes that differ between chemodrug-induced senescent-like growth arrest and apoptosis. In addition, the possible factors and mechanisms involved in this process are also discussed. Finally, the implications on how senescent-like growth arrest might be exploited as a possible new target for anti-cancer drugs are addressed.

Keywords: Senescent, chemotherapeutic drugs, anti-cancer drugs, chemodrug


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