Bubble Bubble, Senescent Cells Are a Cauldron of Tumor Trouble

Senescent cells release a mélange of factors that drive multiple forms of pathology, including cancer aggressiveness. In this issue of Cancer Research, Han and colleagues show that small extracellular vesicles (sEV), membrane-enclosed bubbles that carry signaling molecules, from senescent stromal cells can promote tumorigenesis and multidrug resistance in prostate or breast cancer cells. They find that loss of SIRT1 activity drives senescence-associated sEV release, and treatment with a SIRT1 agonist prevented this effect. This adds another mechanism by which senescent cells can promote tumorigenesis and offers another activity of senescent cells that might be targeted to limit the spread of cancer.See related article by Han et al., p. 3383.