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Cellular senescence as a tumour promoter

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 3, page 388 (2003)Cite this article

Sir

We are accustomed to think of programmed senescence and apoptosis as protections against cancer. A fine, recent review by Judith Campisi invites speculation that such protections also entail a cost in cancer susceptibility1. She discusses work supporting the view that certain tumour suppressors protect from cancer but accelerate ageing. However, there is another related factor involved in such 'antagonistic pleiotropy'. Papers by Frank and Nowak2 and others3,4 have shown that strategies for tissue production and maintenance that minimize total cell division, and lineage branch length in particular, engender a lower risk of tumorigenic mutations. The reverse is also true. Decades ago, cancer researchers began to characterize the so-called tumour promoters — agents that stimulate cell proliferation and increase the probability of cancer.

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  1. Global Head of Oncology, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusettes, USA

    Alexander Kamb

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  1. Alexander Kamb
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Kamb, A. Cellular senescence as a tumour promoter. Nat Rev Cancer 3, 388 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1073-c1

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