Cellular Senescence and Anti-Cancer Therapy

Background: Cellular senescence is generally understood as a permanent cell cycle arrest stemming from different causes. The mechanism of cellular senescence-induced cell cycle arrest is complex, involving interactions between telomere shortening, inflammations and cellular stresses. In recent years, a growing number of studies have revealed that cellular senescence could mediate the cancer progression of neighboring cells, but this idea is controversial and contradictory evidence argues that cellular senescence also contributes to tumor suppression. Objective: Given that the complicated role of senescence in various physiological and pathological scenarios, we try to clarify the precise contribution role of cellular senescence to tumor progression. Methods: Search for the information in a large array of relevant articles to support our opinion. Results: We discuss the relatively widespread occurrence of cellular senescence in cancer treatment and identify the positive and negative side of senescence contributed to tumor progression. Conclusion: We argue that the availability of pro-senescence therapy could represent as a promising regimen for managing cancer disease, particularly with regard to the poor clinical outcome obtained with other anticancer therapies.