Researchers from Stanford University have reported that CD14⁺ cancer cells could promote the development of bladder cancer. Their study was published in PNAS.

Solid tumors represent a complex mass of tissue composed of multiple distinct cell types. Cells with the tumor produce a range of soluble factors to create a complex of signaling networking within the tumor microenvironment. Bladder cancer(BC) represents a growing number of solid tumors characterized by the infiltration of a significant number of solid tumors characterized by the infiltration of a significant number of myeloid cells in the neoplastic lesion.

In this study, scientists define the crucial role of CD14-high bladder cancer(BC) cells in orchestrating multiple hallmarks of cancer in the early stages of BC. Inflammatory factors produced by this subpopulation of tumor cells activate angiogenesis to support establishment and maintenance of an immune-suppressive, inflammatory tumor microenvironment. Additionally, this subpopulation is able to drive tumor growth by producing factors that drive autocrine and paracrine proliferative stimulation.

Here they show that a tumor-cell subpopulation establishes a tumor microenvironment orchestrating tumor-promoting inflammation and tumor-cell proliferation. Collectively, this study highlights the need to explore the broader role of CD14 expression is critical for IL6 secretion by these cells

Therefore, therapeutic targeting of CD14 might represent a strategy for treating cancer.

Reference:Cheah M T, Chen J Y, Sahoo D, et al. CD14-expressing cancer cells establish the inflammatory and proliferative tumor microenvironment in bladder cancer[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015, 112(15): 4725-4730.