The right timing of treatment keeps resistant cells in check, yeast experiments suggest
The development of treatment resistance is one of the key challenges in modern cancer and antibiotic therapy. New therapeutic approaches aim to curb the spread of resistance through the targeted timing of treatment cycles.
New therapies for cancer and antibiotic treatment are struggling with the issue of treatment resistance. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) have discovered that carefully timing treatments can help control resistant cells in dense groups of cells, like tumors and biofilms. Resistant cells that form deep within a population grow more slowly due to limited nutrients and oxygen, and treatment can alter this dynamic.
The research team, led by Dr. Jona Kayser, used a unique "Real-To-Sim-To-Real" approach to study resistance. They created yeast model systems and ran computer simulations to observe resistance evolution, then tested their computer-optimized strategies in real experiments. Their findings show that the timing of treatment can affect the success of therapy, with an optimal range that appears at the boundary of two different therapy outcomes.
Treatment not only directly affects cells but also indirectly influences their environment, and both factors interact. The researchers emphasize that understanding these physical mechanisms could be crucial for future treatment strategies, although their findings cannot be applied to patient treatment just yet. Further investigation is needed to see if similar mechanisms occur in more realistic models, such as three-dimensional tumor organoids.
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