Scientists May Have Discovered How Cancer Spreads in the Body
Scientists at the University College London believed they may have finally discovered why cancer spreads – a groundbreaking finding that could ultimately lead to a new cure for the disease.
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, which destroyed the lives of over 7.6 million people in 2008. Figures are projected to increase, with an estimated 13.1 million by year 2030, according to the World Health Organisation.
In the UK, cancer claims 150,000 lives each year.
The disease apparently develops at a small area and damages the cells in there. But over time, cancer cells spread, affecting even the healthiest parts of the body. This makes the disease very hard to treat and increases the risk of mortality. But as to why cancer cells spread remains to be a big mystery for scientists. According to Professor Roberto Mayor, the spokesman of the study, most deaths are not due to the formation of the primary tumour. Instead, most people die because of the secondary tumours originating from the first malignant cells. These cells are able to travel and colonise vital organs of the body, including the lungs and the brain, he adds.
The researchers have identified a key mechanism they called ‘chase and run’ where diseased and healthy cells follow each other around the body.
‘This happens because the cells get healthy ones to follow them. Nobody knew how this happened, and now we believe we have uncovered it.’ Prof Mayor said.
For the study, researchers used two types of embryonic cells to simulate the roles of cancerous and healthy cells. They were hoping to see how exactly cancer cells attach themselves to healthy ones.
They found that diseased cells are attracted to healthy cells, which then try to move away from the cancerous cells. But the cancer cells continue to hunt the healthy cells, causing the disease to spread in the body. "We use the analogy of the donkey and the carrot to explain this behaviour: the donkey follows the carrot, but the carrot moves away when approached by the donkey," added Prof Mayor.
Published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, the groundbreaking findings might contribute to the development of future therapies that could prevent cancer cells from spreading, and ultimately, save thousands of lives.
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