Inflammation at the inception of cancer: using fish and fly to tell the story

Abstract

The use of fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) as models in cancer biology has recently led to the discovery that the earliest pre-cancerous cell induces an inflammatory response, which was later found to be important for pre-neoplastic cell (PNC) early progression by providing trophic support for PNC growth. Therefore, an understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the trophic inflammatory response toward PNCs might help us develop cancer prevention strategies. The use of fly and fish models for live imaging studies of the initiation of cancer and what we know so far about the signalling mechanisms involved during the earliest interactions between PNC and its host is discussed here, as well as some future perspectives.