Stop signal for metastases
Biologists have learned how to immobilize cancer cells
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
The spread of metastases is the main cause of cancer mortality. But now the US has created a method to disable the "internal GPS" of cancer cells. They stop seeing ways to move around the body and reproduce.
The ways in which cancer cells move from the primary tumor further along the body can be compared to small highways. Until now, scientists could not understand how cancer recognizes them. But it was known that patients with a large number of such "highways" are less likely to survive due to the rapid spread of metastases throughout the body.
Scientists from The University of Minnesota (USA) proved that if you stop the mechanisms of movement of malignant cells, they begin to move differently or even freeze forever, according to the university's website (Researchers stop ‘sneaky’ cancer cells in their tracks).
Article by Tabdanov et al. Bimodal sensing of guidance cues in mechanically distinct microenvironments is published in the journal Nature Communications – VM.
In the breast cancer model, the team showed that the cells simply lost their bearings and stopped.
It is known that 90% of cancer deaths are associated with the spread of metastases throughout the body. This discovery is likely to allow the creation of tools to completely stop the growth of the tumor.
But even if at least to slow down its development, it will increase the survival rate of millions of cancer patients, scientists are sure.
Now the team is starting to test the method for other types of tumors in order to move on to experiments with animals in the future, and then to clinical studies. Another area of research is to combine the method of suppressing cancer cells with stimulating the movement of immune cells.
Recently, a group of Canadian researchers presented a new laboratory blood test to detect any type of tumor at an early stage. Scientists claim that the analysis can diagnose cancer long before the first symptoms appear.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru