Your gut is often called your ‘secondary brain’. It has a remarkable ability to repair damaged tissue, and one of the proteins involved in helping cells respond to injury is ZFP36L2.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Tanvi Singh, a medical oncologist at M|O|C Cancer Care and Research Centre, Karol Bagh, explained how this protein – a hidden repair switch in cancer – could reveal how colorectal/colon tumours spread. Per Dr Tanvi, this research sheds light on the high plasticity of cancer cells during metastasis. She explained, “Rather than spreading as they are, cancer cells can switch from one cellular state to another depending on the surrounding environment. For example, while some cancer cells are able to undergo a switch to the stem-cell state, others can assume alternative cell fates. Lastly, regarding where we are in translating this laboratory finding into a cancer therapy, Dr Tanvi stated that this study is an important step towards understanding metastasis. However, further research is needed to see whether ZFP36L2 can be safely and selectively blocked in patients and how this would affect patient outcomes. Dr Tanvi Singh is a consultant medical oncologist. She completed her MD from Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore and completed her DrNB in Medical Oncology from Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Jaipur. She has expertise in treating a wide spectrum of cancers.
“Thus, current colorectal cancer treatments should be based on available clinical evidence rather than this preclinical finding,” she added, underlining why it is too early to change our approach to treating cancer patients.
