Stopping the flow of cancer cells promotes the spread of tumours
Monday, December 3, 2012 - 10:30
in Health & Medicine
Researchers have discovered that the cellular component Prrx1 prevents cancer cells from lodging in other organs and, therefore, generating new focuses of cancer. Metastasis is the cause of more than 90% of cancer deaths. The cancer cells break away from the original tumor and spread through the body anchoring to other organs and forming new tumors called metastases. For a focus of cancer to spread to other organs, its cells undergo a process known as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) which makes them mobile and invasive, and they begin to travel through the bloodstream. However, to re-anchor to a new organ or tissue they must first recover their initial characteristics, i.e. lose mobility.