Microenvironment for myeloma growth and drug resistance

抄録

Bone provides a unique microenvironment for myeloma (MM) cell growth and survival, including niches to foster clonogenic MM cells. MM cells stimulate bone resorption by enhancing osteoclastogenesis, while suppressing bone formation by inhibiting osteoblastic differentiation from bone marrow stromal cells, leading to extensive bone destruction with rapid loss of bone. MM cells alter the microenvironment through bone destruction in bone where they colonize, which in turn favors tumor growth and survival, thereby forming a vicious cycle between tumor ­progression and bone destruction. MM is still difficult to be cured despite the recent implementation of new agents, and its bone disease also remains a significant clinical problem. Further elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of tumor-bone interactions and tumor growth in the bone microenvironment will provide us with new approaches that have a real impact on both bone disease and tumor progression.