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CCBIO Special Seminar: Bruce Baguley

Do human cancer cell lines really behave in the same way as clinical tumor material?

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Professor Bruce Baguley
University of Auckland, Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, New Zealand

Cancer cell lines have emerged as one of the main laboratory tools for the investigation of cancer behavior and of response to therapy. We wanted to compare the behavior of cell lines with that of short term cultures of clinical material taken during cancer surgery. We discuss the results of our study in terms of a model in which tumors contain two major populations, one in which proliferation is controlled mainly by a cell cycle restriction point, and one in which cell loss is controlled by an axis that links apoptotic tumor cells, the Axl receptor, and macrophages. The main conclusion is that the proportion of these two populations may fluctuate with time, with important implications for cancer therapy.

Chairperson: Agnete Engelsen, CCBIO