Gut Inflammation Reactivated Dormant Breast Cancer Cells in a Mouse Model

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  Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute found that gut inflammation reactivated dormant breast cancer cells in a mouse model.

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  The team used engineered bone tissue containing dormant metastatic cells to study how changes elsewhere in the body affect them.

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  Gut inflammation prompted the model’s bone tissue to produce more immune cells, while more dormant cancer cells began dividing.

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  The researchers identified HMGB2, a molecule linked to cell growth, as a factor that promoted cancer cell reactivation.

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  The findings suggest that immune responses to inflammation may disrupt the environment that keeps metastatic cancer cells dormant.

Who

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, including Ilaria Malanchi’s group.

What

Gut inflammation reactivated dormant breast cancer cells in a mouse model. The researchers linked the effect to increased immune cell production and HMGB2.

When

The study was published in Cell Reports in 2026. The exact date of the experiments is not stated.

Where

In a mouse model using engineered bone tissue grown beneath the skin.

Why

Inflammation prompted bone tissue to produce more immune cells and reorganize. HMGB2, whose levels rose, also promoted cancer cell reactivation.

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