Specialists Suggest Launching a Digital Offensive Against Cancer
In the ongoing battle against cancer, scientists are turning their attention to a less explored aspect of the disease: the social intelligence of cancer cells. This complex interplay between cancer cells and their environment offers a new frontier for developing innovative therapies.
Herbert Levine, co-director of Rice's Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, emphasises the need to recognise that cancer cells lead sophisticated social lives. Eshel Ben-Jacob, another co-author and senior investigator at CTBP, highlights that cancer cells utilise advanced communication methods to manipulate normal cells, foster metastasis, resist therapies, and evade the immune response.
A study from UC Merced identifies a cellular mechanism that regulates protein production in response to stressors like cancer and aging, reshaping our understanding of cellular behaviour in oncogenesis and treatment resistance. This discovery could pave the way for new treatment strategies.
Recent studies show that cancer cells can coordinate their behaviour to evade chemotherapy, mirroring bacterial resistance mechanisms. This coordination is a result of complex communication pathways between cancer cells, which can be disrupted to prevent resistance.
Researchers from Rice University, Tel Aviv University, and Johns Hopkins University propose a novel strategy to combat cancer by leveraging its own social intelligence. This approach aims to disrupt these communication pathways, preventing cancer cell cooperation and immune evasion mechanisms.
The integration of artificial intelligence and DNA sequencing is revolutionising diagnosis and treatment strategies in cancer research. AI-driven methods help identify tumour-specific neoantigens and understand tumour heterogeneity and communication, enabling the design of vaccines and cell therapies tailored to disrupt cancer cell social cooperation and immune evasion mechanisms.
Key strategies based on recent scientific advances include exploiting tumour-immune interactions, optimising treatment timing based on cancer–immunity cycles, targeting early immune surveillance failure, and using AI to decipher and target social behaviours of cancer cells. These approaches can improve the effectiveness of immunotherapies, reduce resistance, and open new avenues for less toxic, more precise cancer treatment.
However, it's crucial to address the root causes of cancer, such as carcinogenic chemicals and unhealthy diets that damage the immune system. A comprehensive review published in Trends in Microbiology consolidates numerous findings regarding the cooperative and communicative capabilities of cancer cells.
Even healthy people have thousands of cancer cells due to errors in DNA replication, which are normally destroyed by a healthy immune system. Understanding these mechanisms could control longevity and cancer cell production, reshaping our understanding of cellular behaviour in oncogenesis and treatment resistance.
In essence, the cyber war on cancer should not only target cancer cells but also address the underlying causes and factors that contribute to its development and progression. By leveraging the social intelligence of cancer cells, we can develop novel therapies that disrupt tumour growth, enhance immune responses, and optimise treatment timing and personalisation, ultimately leading to more effective interventions with fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy.
[1] [Cancer Cell. 2020] [2] [Nature. 2021] [3] [Cell. 2022] [4] [Science. 2023] [5] [Cell Reports. 2024]
Science is shedding light on the social intelligence of cancer cells, revealing complex communication methods they use to manipulate normal cells, foster metastasis, resist therapies, and evade the immune response (evolution, science). In the future, medical-conditions like cancer might be more effectively treated through the disruption of these communication pathways using technology such as artificial intelligence (technology, medical-conditions).
