How ovarian cancer spreads
A team led by Joan Brugge, the Louise Foote Pfeiffer Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, recently shed light on how ovarian cancer spreads. In a paper to be published in the July issue of the journal Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Brugge and colleagues found that ovarian cancer cells act like bullies, using brute force to plow their way through tissue and colonize additional organs. “This is the first time that mechanical force has been implicated in the spread of ovarian cancer,” says Brugge, who is also chair of the Department of Cell Biology. “While this research is still preliminary, we are building a foundation for the development of treatments based on a robust understanding of the disease.” According to the National Cancer Institute, ovarian cancer accounts for about 3 percent of all cancers among women in the United States. It caused...