Mice with skin condition help scientists understand tumor growth

Cancerous tumors sometimes form at the site of chronic wounds or injury, but the reason why is not entirely clear. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have engineered mice with a persistent wound-like skin condition, and the mice are helping them understand the tumor-promoting effects of long-standing wounds and injuries.

"The chronic skin condition in the mice led to the growth of skin tumors," says Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., professor of developmental biology and of dermatology. "And what we learned from this process fit very well with the emerging realization that a tumor's surroundings play a critical role in its development."

Past clinical evidence has linked chronic skin wounds such as leg ulcers to an increased risk of skin cancer, and some scientists have suggested that chronic injury can predispose various organs to cancer.

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