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Cell Senescence & Cancer

The body's ability to protect itself from conditions like cancer relies on individual cellular metabolism functions. Cell senescence is a process designed to prevent damaged or aged cells from reproducing in the body. The relation between cancer and cell senescence involves the body's ability to identify potential problem cell masses.

  1. Cancer

    • Cancer is a condition that develops when certain cells in the body begin to reproduce at abnormal rates, according to ScienceWeek, a science research information resource. Abnormal reproduction occurs in cells that have suffered damage from free radical materials, or are in an aged, weakened state. The normal cell processes that protect the body against cancer are designed to shut down cell metabolism activities and prevent damaged cells from reproducing and spreading. Cell senescence is a process that works to disable damaged cells, and can help prevent cancer cells from spreading in the body.

    Cell Senescence

    • Cancerous growths form when cancer genes, or oncogenes take over a normal cell's metabolism functions. These genes appear within the DNA-RNA molecules of the cell. Both DNA and RNA are responsible for regulating cell activities, and designing the blueprint for cell reproduction processes. Cancer genes act as mutant regulators, causing abnormal reproduction rates and unstable cell activities. According to ScienceWeek, cell senescence works as a natural protective mechanism that shuts down abnormal DNA-RNA activities and prevents cells from reproducing altogether.

    Signaling Pathways

    • Cell senescence is triggered by certain conditions that develop within individual cells, according to ScienceWeek. These conditions set off a serious of signaling pathways that work to shut down different cell processes. In some cases, signaling pathways can be triggered by shortened DNA telomere strands. Telomeres appear at the ends of chromosomes, and help to stabilize DNA metabolism processes. Shortened strands cause the cell to secrete a tumor suppressor protein that works to shutdown the cell's reproductive activities. Unknown stressors (like free radical materials) can also elicit a signaling pathway that causes cell life cycle processes to shut down.

    Cell Proliferation

    • Cell proliferation is what happens when cancer cells begin to reproduce at faster rates than normal. In general, the more reproductive cycles a cell goes through, the shorter its DNA telomere strands become according to ScienceWeek. Once an oncogene has taken over a cell's DNA processes, telomere signaling pathways become altered. When this happens, the cell's senescence mechanisms are unable to trigger a normal signaling pathway response. As a result, cells can continue to multiply at will.

    Extracelluar Matrix

    • Senescent cells unable to reproduce can still respond to incoming hormonal signals, according to the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA). This allows them to interact with, and affect other nearby cell processes. Because of their altered condition, senescent cells can also secreting harmful enzymes into their surrounding extracellular matrix. The extracellular matrix provides nutrients to its surrounding cell population, and helps to regulate processes between, and inside nearby cells. Researchers at the NIA suspect the breakdown of this matrix may contribute to an increased risk of cancer within affected areas.

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