An alternative therapy for a particularly deadly kind of children cancer that manifests in muscle tissue is in the works.
The transformation of rhabdomyosarcoma cells into healthy muscle cells has been triggered by scientists. It’s a major step forward that may result in novel therapies for the brutal illness, and it may pave the way for major steps forward in the fight against other forms of human cancer as well.
Cancer is not a singular entity. It is caused by the mutation of cells from various areas of the body.
Rhabdomyosarcoma Cancer Are Aggressive and Fatal
Rhabdomyosarcoma is a type of cancer that affects young children and adolescents most frequently. It typically begins in the skeletal muscle, where mutated cells begin to proliferate and take over the body.
Rhabdomyosarcoma is aggressive and frequently fatal; survival rates for the intermediate risk category range from 50 to 70%.
Differentiation therapy is a promising treatment approach.
It was first proposed when researchers found that leukemia cells share immature features with undifferentiated stem cells.
The goal of differentiation treatment is to coax immature cells into maturing into desired cell types.
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Genetic Screening Technique
To determine which genes might prompt rhabdomyosarcoma genes to continue developing into muscle cells, they used a genetic screening technique. Proteins termed Nuclear transcription factor Y (NF-Y) turned out to be the key.
The protein PAX3-FOXO1 is made by rhabdomyosarcoma cells and is essential for the growth of the malignancy.
Researchers discovered that inactivating PAX3-FOXO1 by knocking down NF-Y caused cells to continue developing and differentiate into adult muscle cells without any evidence of malignancy activity.
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