Study finds that damaged cells could improve chemotherapy for lung and ovarian cancers
New research co-authored by Downing Bye-Fellow Jianfeng Ge has shed light on why some lung and ovarian cancers stop responding to chemotherapy.
The research suggests that chemotherapy can lead to an increase in damaged cells that are ‘paused’, also called senescent cells, meaning that the cells are alive in the body but unable to grow and divide.
These senescent cells were once thought to help suppress cancer because they stop dividing. However, growing evidence now shows that over time they release chemical signals that encourage tumours to grow.
The team, made up of scientists from the Muñoz-Espín laboratory at the Early Cancer Institute and the Brenton and Narita groups at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, used mouse models and patient tumour samples to show that the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, a commonly used platinum-based treatment, can push some cancer cells into this ‘paused’ senescent state.
These senescent cells release high levels of a signalling molecule called TGFβ, which helps nearby cancer cells survive, grow, and resist treatment in both the lung and ovarian cancer models.
It was found that blocking the TGFβ signalling from the senescent cells, or removing senescent cells using drugs called senolytic agents, reduced tumour growth and improved survival rates in several lung cancer models.
Published in the scientific journal Nature Aging, the research suggests that pairing platinum chemotherapy with drugs that target senescent cells or TGFβ signalling could make treatment for patients more effective and help prevent resistance and cancer recurrence.
Jianfeng’s work is supported by the Darley-Sands Fund established thanks to generous donations from Helga Sands and her late husband, Julian Darley (1956 Natural Sciences).
Published 18 February 2026