Prevent metastasis
A gentle way of early cancer diagnosis has been created
Scientists have come up with a way to diagnose cancer at an early stage without an invasive biopsy. A synthetic scaffold is placed under the patient's skin, trapping cancer cells, which can then be studied in detail. The results of the study are published in the journal Cancer Research (Oakes et al., Metastatic conditioning of myeloid cells at a subcutaneous synthetic niche reflects disease progression and predicts therapeutic outcomes).
If a malignant tumor is suspected, a biopsy of the affected organ is performed on the patient to establish an accurate diagnosis – they penetrate inside and take a tissue sample. This invasive procedure in some cases, for example, lung biopsy, is difficult and dangerous for humans.
Scientists from the University of Michigan (USA) suggest placing a small synthetic biomaterial frame under the skin instead of a biopsy. Overgrown with tissues, this framework turns into a metastatic niche that captures the circulating aggressive cancer cells.
Figure from the press release Implantable cancer traps could provide earlier diagnosis, help monitor treatment – VM.
Scientists tested the new method on mice and showed that synthetic scaffolds successfully work with several types of cancer in mice, including pancreatic cancer. After extracting the scaffolds, they analyzed 635 genes present in the captured cancer cells.
Ten of these genes were selected, according to which it is possible to determine with a high degree of probability whether the mouse has cancer that has already begun to spread, or cancer in the initial stage that has not yet metastasized, or the mouse is healthy.
It turned out that with the help of implanted skeletons, it is possible to detect signs of cancer even before cancer cells begin to spread through the body, since the skeletons also catch immune cells formed in response to the first manifestations of cancer.
"When we started this work, the idea was that we would do a biopsy of the skeleton and look for tumor cells," the University of Michigan press service quotes the lead author of the study, Lonnie Shea. –But we realized that by analyzing the immune cells that are collected first, we can detect cancer before it spreads."
In the treatment of malignancies, early detection is a key success factor in treatment. In addition to diagnostics, the new method will allow doctors to track the progression of the disease and the response to therapy.
The bait's ability to attract immune and cancer cells may also contribute to the treatment itself. These devices have demonstrated the ability to slow the growth of metastatic breast cancer tumors in mice. Since some of the cancer cells are collected in traps, a smaller number of them are involved in the formation of a tumor.
Scientists intend to equip the frames with sensors in order to receive information in real time using Bluetooth technology without removing the device.
"At the moment, early signs of metastases are difficult to detect," says study co–author Jacqueline S Jeruss. – As soon as the patient has symptoms, they do a scan, but at this stage he may already have a lot of cancer cells. Then we need more advanced methods for detecting metastases. In this case, targeted treatment can significantly slow down the development of the disease."
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