Targeting Zombie Cells

Senescent cells are those that have stopped multiplying but not yet died. Sometimes referred to as ‘zombie cells’, they accumulate with age and can release chemicals that can cause cancer. To better understand how senescent cells might be involved in the initiation and development of lung tumours, researchers have a developed a mouse model allowing examination of senescent cells within the tumour microenvironment. The team discovered that senescent macrophages – a type of white blood cell of the immune system – release pro-tumour factors creating an environment that fosters lung tumour growth. However, when the researchers treated mice with lung tumours with a drug that specifically destroys these ‘zombie’ macrophages, the size of the tumours (highlighted in green in these lung sections) reduced dramatically (right) compared to those without treatment (left). Excitingly, this shows that targeting senescent macrophages could be an effective new way to treat or even prevent these tumours.

Written by Sophie Arthur

Sophie Arthur

former Science Communications Officer MRC LMS

Formerly a stem cell biologist, Sophie has since moved into science communication working at the MRC LMS. She also writes an award winning science and education blog Soph talks science.

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• Image from work by Scott Haston and colleagues
• Developmental Biology and Cancer Programme, Birth Defects Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London & Early Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Cancer Cell, June 2023