Accelerated tumor repopulation following chemoradiation is often observed in the clinic, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In recent years, dying cells caused by chemoradiation have attracted much attention, and they may manifest diverse forms of cell death and release complex factors and thus orchestrate tumor repopulation cascades. Dying cells potentiate the survival of residual living tumor cells, remodel the tumor microenvironment, boost cell proliferation, and accelerate cancer cell metastasis. Moreover, dying cells also mediate the side effects of chemoradiation. These findings suggest more caution when weighing the benefits of cytotoxic therapy and the need to accordingly develop new strategies for cancer treatment.

在临床上经常观察到放化疗后肿瘤的加速繁殖，但其潜在机制仍不清楚。近年来，由化学辐射引起的垂死细胞引起了人们的广泛关注，它们可能表现出多种形式的细胞死亡并释放复杂的因子，从而协调了肿瘤的重新聚集级联。垂死的细胞增强了残留的活肿瘤细胞的存活，重塑了肿瘤的微​​环境，促进了细胞的增殖，并加速了癌细胞的转移。而且，垂死的细胞还介导化学放射的副作用。这些发现表明，在权衡细胞毒性疗法的益处以及相应地制定新的癌症治疗策略时，应更加谨慎。