Spatial synthetic lethality- a new approach to treat B cell lymphoma (?)
Ingo Ringshausen
University of Cambridge, Wellcome–MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute
Indolent B cell lymphoma remain incurable diseases despite the development and clinical use of targeted therapies. Ultimately residual tumour cells drive relapse and treatment resistance to targeted and non-targeted therapies. Besides genomic instability and clonal evolution, the tumour microenvironment contributes to drug resistance. By deciphering signaling pathways mediating environment-mediated drug resistance, we have developed orthogonal approaches to current therapies by targeting tumour-activated signalling pathways in mesenchymal stroma cells. Understanding the complexity of this cell-cell interaction provides novel ideas for the treatment of B cell malignancies, which are likely also relevant for solid cancers.