A slow-cycling LGR5 tumour population mediates basal cell carcinoma relapse after therapy.

ABSTRACT: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most frequent cancer in humans and results from constitutive activation of the Hedgehog pathway¹. Several Smoothened inhibitors are used to treat Hedgehog-mediated malignancies, including BCC and medulloblastoma². Vismodegib, a Smoothened inhibitor, leads to BCC shrinkage in the majority of patients with BCC³, but the mechanism by which it mediates BCC regression is unknown. Here we used two genetically engineered mouse models of BCC⁴ to investigate the mechanisms by which inhibition of Smoothened mediates tumour regression. We found that vismodegib mediates BCC regression by inhibiting a hair follicle-like fate and promoting the differentiation of tumour cells. However, a small population of tumour cells persist

SUBMITTER: Sanchez-Danes A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6295195 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature