Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Tumour biology

Senescence in premalignant tumours

Nature volume 436, page 642 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Oncogene-induced senescence is a cellular response that may be crucial for protection against cancer development1,2, but its investigation has so far been restricted to cultured cells that have been manipulated to overexpress an oncogene. Here we analyse tumours initiated by an endogenous oncogene, ras, and show that senescent cells exist in premalignant tumours but not in malignant ones. Senescence is therefore a defining feature of premalignant tumours that could prove valuable in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Premalignant lung adenomas induced by oncogenic K-ras are positive for markers of senescence, whereas malignant adenocarcinomas are negative.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Serrano, M., Lin, A. W., McCurrach, M. E., Beach, D. & Lowe, S. W. Cell 88, 593–602 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Lowe, S. W., Cepero, E. & Evan, G. Nature 432, 307–315 (2004).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Guerra, C. et al. Cancer Cell 4, 111–120 (2003).

    Article  MathSciNet  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Dimri, G. P. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 92, 9363–9367 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Narita, M. et al. Cell 113, 703–716 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Palmero, I., Pantoja, C. & Serrano, M. Nature 395, 125–126 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Tuveson, D. A. et al. Cancer Cell 5, 375–387 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid, 28029, Spain

    Manuel Collado, Alejo Efeyan, Carmen Guerra, Alberto J. Schuhmacher, Marta Barradas, Mariano Barbacid & Manuel Serrano

  2. MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, Hammersmith, London, W12 0NN, UK

    Jesús Gil

  3. Spanish National Centre of Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, 28049, Spain

    Alberto Benguría & Angel Zaballos

  4. Department of Animal Surgery and Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid, 28040, Spain

    Juana M. Flores

  5. Centre for Cutaneous Research, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, London, E1 2AT, UK

    David Beach

Authors
  1. Manuel Collado
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jesús Gil
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alejo Efeyan
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carmen Guerra
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alberto J. Schuhmacher
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Marta Barradas
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alberto Benguría
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Angel Zaballos
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Juana M. Flores
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Mariano Barbacid
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  11. David Beach
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Manuel Serrano
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manuel Serrano.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Collado, M., Gil, J., Efeyan, A. et al. Senescence in premalignant tumours. Nature 436, 642 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/436642a

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/436642a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing