Controlling secretion to limit chemoresistance.

The tumor microenvironment influences cancer progression and therapy outcome by mechanisms not yet fully understood. In this issue of Genes & Development, Bent and colleagues (pp. 1811-1821) show how chemotherapy causes endothelial senescence. Interestingly, senescent endothelial cells do not mount a typical senescence-associated secretory phenotype but instead acutely secrete IL-6, promoting chemoresistance. This study unveils a physiological switch involving PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling that restrains the senescence secretory responses to limit the detrimental consequences of persistent inflammation.