by Amanda Dlamini
Introduction
Imagine a crowded city during rush hour. From above, all things in the city might appear the same including the streets, buildings, and people but when you zoom in you will see neighbourhoods with different energies. Some areas are very busy while some areas are calm and quiet. Now imagine that city as a tumour. That is what researchers uncovered in this groundbreaking study on cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) using modern mapping tool called spatial transcriptomics.
Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma (CSCC) is the most common type of cervical cancer, that begins in the flat, thin squamous cells that lines the surface of the cervix, this cancer usually develops slowly and is caused by persistent infections with high-risk types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) such as type 16 and type 18.
Key Findings
This technology allowed scientists to analyse gene activity in tissue slices of cervical tumours. They found two major zones within each tumour, the first one was called hypermetabolic zones, which were buzzing with activity, cells grew rapidly and aggressively and expressed genes like Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) and Trichorhinophalangeal Syndrome type 1 protein (TRPS1), which are known to accelerate cancer progression. The second one was, hypometabolic zones which were quieter and richer in immune cells like CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, which are commonly responsible for protecting the body from pathogens and fighting against diseases in the body.
These active, aggressive zones block the immune system, and the immune cells were clustered in the calm areas, unable to access the tumours. This suggests that some areas of the tumour might grow quickly, they can also evade the body’s natural defences and may be difficult to treat. The two important genes, APP and TRPS1 were found the active parts of the tumour (hypermetabolic zones). These genes seem to help cancer cells to grow, invade, avoid the body’s defence and spread, which means they can be useful targets for future treatments.
So, What Does This Mean for Treatment?
This tells us that not all tumour tissues are the same, a single tumour may have hot zones that are more dangerous than others and they should be carefully spotted and targeted. In future, therapies could be customized to target specific parts of a tumour instead of treating the whole tumour the same way.
This study helps us better understand cervical cancer and how to treat it. It is the first step towards creating detailed cancer maps that shows what is happening inside the tumour, helping the doctors plan more precise treatment.
References
Zhou, L., Liu, J., Yao, P., Liu, X., Chen, F., Chen, Y., Zhou, L., Shen, C., Zhou, Y., Du, X. & Hu, J. (2024) ‘Spatial transcriptomics reveals unique metabolic profile and key oncogenic regulators of cervical squamous cell carcinoma’, Journal of Translational Medicine, 22,
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