New study reveals how tumors remodel their surroundings to grow

A team of scientists from Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) has found that the loss of a protein called p62 in the cells and tissue surrounding a tumor can enhance the growth and progression of tumors. The study suggests that therapies targeting the tumor microenvironment may be as important as targeting the tumor itself. The findings contribute to the increasing acknowledgement that the cells and tissue surrounding a tumor—the stroma—are an integral part of cancer initiation, growth, and expansion. Read more here.