US scientists have defined a biological process which appears to stop early prostate tumour growth.
The process, which is part of aging and is controlled by certain genes, results in cells – and tumours – failing to respond to normal growth signals.
Men with prostate cancer lack the genes that appear to mediate this process – "senescence", journal Nature reports.
A New York-based team’s study in mice suggests correcting this could be a way to prevent prostate tumour growth.
Senescence genes
Senescence is the state or process of aging derived from the Latin word senex, meaning "old man" or "old age" and is controlled by genes.
Cells remain alive but fail to respond to normal growth signals. If this occurs in a tumour, it means it will not grow.
For their research, Dr Pier Paolo Pandolfi and colleagues at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center looked at mice bred to lack certain genes that play a role in senescence and appear to be altered in prostate cancer – PTEN and p53.
