Abstract
Both in situ and allograft models of cancer in juvenile and adult Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies offer a powerful means for unravelling cancer gene networks and cancer–host interactions. They can also be used as tools for cost-effective drug discovery and repurposing. Moreover, in situ modeling of emerging tumors makes it possible to address cancer initiating events—a black box in cancer research, tackle the innate antitumor immune responses to incipient preneoplastic cells and recurrent growing tumors, and decipher the initiation and evolution of inflammation. These studies in Drosophila melanogaster can serve as a blueprint for studies in more complex organisms and help in the design of mechanism-based therapies for the individualized treatment of cancer diseases in humans. This review focuses on new discoveries in Drosophila related to the diverse innate immune responses to cancer-related inflammation and the systemic effects that are so detrimental to the host.
Highlights
Cancer is a major public health issue that causes close to 10 million deaths every year [1]
leukotriene B4 (LTB4) is a proinflammatory mediator that is produced by myeloid cells in mammals [27] in response to an inflammatory insult, and we recently demonstrated its role in tumor-related inflammation in Drosophila Notch-Pten tumors [4], where active lipid proinflammatory mediators are produced by the tumor cells in Pten-deficient cells
The precise mechanisms that mediate the crosstalk between tumors and the host are not completely understood
Summary
Cancer is a major public health issue that causes close to 10 million deaths every year [1]. The growth of a malignant tumor in a specific organ or tissue often induces its dysfunction, but it is mostly the systemic physiopathological alterations that occur in distal organs that result in devastating outcomes and contribute to the death of the host. These general effects, which were once thought to be mere metastases, are known to be a consequence of secreted proteins and hormones, exosomes, and/or metabolites that enter the bloodstream, affecting different organs and provoking physiological alterations that can result in weight loss, anorexia, fatigue, chronic pain, and other debilitating conditions.
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