DNA: leukemia's secret weapon of bone mass destruction

Interaction of tumour cells with their microenvironment impacts on all aspects of cancer, ranging from development through to treatment response. In this issue, Dvorak and colleagues(1) reveal a novel tumour/microenvironment relationship that may drive leukemia pathogenesis. Specifically, they find that leukemic cells secrete chromatin-complexed DNA that, in turn, triggers a variety of harmful effects, including cell death, in neighbouring stromal cells. Through this toxicity, DNA-mediated bone marrow destruction could promote disease progression by allowing leukemic cells to exit the bone marrow into the circulation.