弗吉尼亚理工学院的研究人员发现，携带异常染色体数目的较小癌细胞（四倍体细胞）反而比正常大小的癌细胞更具危害性 1。这些异常小的四倍体细胞比预期小25-30%，却表现出更强的侵袭性，生长速度更快，扩散范围更广泛，同时对常见抗癌药物和应激诱导药物的耐受性更强 1。研究人员Bloomfield表示："较小的克隆更具侵袭性，生长更快，侵入性更强，对常见抗癌药物和压力诱导药物的耐受性更强" 1。
研究还揭示了这些细胞促进肿瘤进展的机制 1。尽管四倍体细胞在肿瘤中所占比例下降，但它们能够招募非癌性的间质细胞促进肿瘤生长 1。在结肠癌和乳腺癌细胞中均观察到了相似结果 1。对癌症基因组图谱数据的分析表明，较小的四倍体细胞与患者预后恶化和生存率降低存在相关性，为癌症预后预测提供了新的方法 1。该研究已发表于《美国国家科学院院刊》2026年第123卷第22期和《癌症研究》2026年第86卷第9期 1。
Researchers at Virginia Tech have identified a counterintuitive phenomenon: cancer cells with abnormal chromosome numbers that are significantly smaller than normal-sized cancer cells demonstrate greater aggressiveness, faster growth rates, and wider spread potential 1. These tetraploid cells, which measure 25-30% smaller than expected, also display enhanced resistance to common cancer treatments 1.
The research reveals that despite comprising a diminished proportion of tumors, these diminutive tetraploid cells possess a remarkable capacity to recruit healthy stromal cells, which in turn promote tumor progression 1. According to researcher Mathew Bloomfield, "smaller clones are more aggressive, grow faster, are more invasive, and show greater tolerance to common anti-cancer drugs and stress-induced therapeutics" 1. Analysis of cancer genome atlas data demonstrates that smaller tetraploid cells correlate with poorer patient outcomes and lower survival rates, suggesting cell size may serve as a novel prognostic indicator 1. These conclusions were observed consistently across both colorectal and breast cancer cell models 1.
The findings appear in two 2026 publications: the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 22, and Cancer Research, Volume 86, Issue 9 1.
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