Cellular senescence predicts treatment outcome in metastasised colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: Cellular senescence is a terminal cell-cycle arrest that occurs in response to activated oncogenes and DNA-damaging chemotherapy. Whether cancer cell senescence at diagnosis might be predictive for treatment outcome is unknown. METHODS: A senescence index (SI) was developed and used to retrospectively correlate the treatment outcome of 30 UICC stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with their SI at diagnosis. RESULTS: 5-Fluorouracil/leucovorin-treated CRC patients achieved a significantly longer progression-free survival when presenting with SI-positive tumours before therapy (median 12.0 vs 6.0 months; P=0.044). CONCLUSION: Cancer cell senescence predicts treatment outcome in metastasised CRC. Prospective analyses of larger patient cohorts are needed.