The Jekyll and Hyde of Senescence in Cancer: TIMP1 Controls the Switch from Tumor-Controlling to Tumor-Promoting Senescence

Cellular senescence is a response with two faces in cancer: it restricts tumor proliferation, but it can also promote cancer progression and metastasis. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Guccini et al. uncover the role of TIMP1 in prostate cancer allowing a switch from tumor-controlling to tumor-promoting senescence.