Movement of cancer cells, tumor cell detection to be studied
Monday, March 2, 2015 - 14:30
in Health & Medicine
Two grants will aid development of new methods and tools to better understand cancer metastasis and tumor cell detection. Metastasis is the process in which cells from a primary tumor break-off, enter the blood stream and create new tumors elsewhere in the body. The metastasis of tumor cells is what causes death in about 70 percent of cancer patients. The basic understanding of a tumor is that once the cells enter the body's highway system (blood flow), the cancer threat becomes increasingly dangerous. Previous research has led scientists to believe the most aggressive cells are soft and deformable so they can speed through the blood stream, squeezing through spaces of various sizes and shapes. The question is why.