Two complementary studies from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, have extensively examined the characteristics of cells with an abnormal number of chromosomes—known as aneuploid cells—and raised findings that may advance new cancer treatments. According to the researchers, "A significant portion of cancer cells are aneuploid, and this trait distinguishes them from healthy cells . Our work focuses on the vulnerabilities of aneuploid cells, with the aim of promoting new strategies for eliminating cancerous tumors.
In our studies, we found that aneuploidy increases the sensitivity of cancer cells to certain types of anticancer drugs." The studies were led by Prof. Uri Ben-David and doctoral student Johanna Zerbib from the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Professor Stefano Santaguida and doctoral student Marica Rosaria Ippolito from the University of Milan in Italy, along with researchers from both laboratories.
Additional contributors included research teams in Israel, Italy, the U.S., and Germany.
Two articles based on the research were published in the journals Cancer Discovery and Nature Communications . Prof. Ben-David explained, "In the nucleus of a healthy human cell, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes—half from the father and half from the mother, totaling.