Current cancer therapies aim at eradicating cancer cells from the body. However, killing cells generates cell "debris" which can promote tumor progression. Thus, therapy can be a double-edged sword. Specifically, injury and debris generated by cancer therapies, including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, may offset their benefit by promoting the secretion of pro-tumorigenic factors (e.g., eicosanoid-driven cytokines) that stimulate regrowth and metastasis of surviving cells. The debris produced by cytotoxic cancer therapy can also contribute to a tumor microenvironment that promotes tumor progression and recurrence. Although not well understood, several molecular mechanisms have been implicated in debris-stimulated tumor growth that we review here, such as the involvement of extracellular vesicles, exosomal miR-194-5p, Bax, Bak, Smac, HMGB1, cytokines, and caspase-3. We discuss the cases of pancreatic and other cancer types where debris promotes postoperative tumor recurrence and metastasis, thus offering a new opportunity to prevent cancer progression intrinsically linked to treatment by stimulating resolution of tumor-promoting debris.
Keywords: Bak; Bax; Caspase-3; Chemotherapy; Debris; Exosomal miR-194-5p; Extracellular vesicles; HMGB1; Inflammation; Metastasis; Platelet activating factor; Radiation; Recurrence; Resolution of inflammation; Smac; Specialized pro-resolving mediators; Surgery; Tumor progression.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.