A sign of cancer immortality in mitochondria?

A sign of cancer immortality in mitochondria?


Cancer researchers was surprised to find out that frequency of new mutations in the mitochondria genomes of colorectal cancer cells were three times fewer compared to normal tissue.

The mutations found in healthy cells that seemed to be “missing” from cancer cells were mainly C:G to T:A transitions – a type of mutation that results from oxidative damage. This makes sense, the authors say, as cancer cells are known to shift from an energy metabolism based on oxidative phosphorylation to one based more on anaerobic glycolysis.