Cancer cells destroyed during chemotherapy are broken down and absorbed by phagocytes, cells of the immune system responsible for eliminating “cellular debris.” D., assistant professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Deepak Panigrahi said: said Live Science.
Some cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, destroy tumor cells by disrupting the integrity of their membranes. This form of elimination is called apoptosis. Panigrahi explained that after cancer cells reach dysfunction, they break down and are absorbed by others, phagocytes. These are immune system cells that protect the body by digesting (phagocytosis) harmful foreign particles and “cellular debris,” which are non-functioning cells.
Phagocytes engulf destroyed cancer cells and then break them down into smaller components such as sugars and nucleic acids, which are chain-like molecules found in DNA. Thanks to this process, old tumor cells are converted into components that can be reused by other cells.
Panigrahi also added that the nuclei of dying cancer cells can sometimes swell and burst, releasing intracellular substances into the surrounding tissue. Sometimes this can cause cancer cells to spread beyond the original tumor. This mechanism plays an important role in the process of cancer progression and metastasis.
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