New Clues On How Cancer Spreads
New clues about how tumors prepare for cancer's deadly spread may open up new avenues for cancer prevention and treatment.
A Japanese study suggests that early in lung cancer's progression, cells within a tumor may pave the way for cancer's invasion by triggering processes that allow for the spread of disease. By interrupting these signals, researchers were able to block the development of cancer's spread to lungs in mice.
Cancer advances through a process of metastasis in which the cancer spreads from the initial site to other areas of the body, making it more deadly and difficult to treat. By learning more about the processes that trigger this spread, researchers say they may be able to develop new cancer treatment strategies.
In the study, researcher Sachie Hiratsuka of Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine and colleagues studied mice bred to develop cancer.
They found certain chemicals were produced in the lung by factors secreted by the primary tumor. These chemicals then prompted the migration of both inflammatory and tumor cells to the lung.
Researchers found an amplifying circuit was created between the primary tumor and the targeted area to facilitate the tumor's invasion. But interrupting this circuit of signals effectively stopped the invasion or spread of cancer to the lungs in mice.
If further studies confirm these results, published in Nature Cell Biology, researchers say targeting this preparatory period in tumors may open up a new avenue to prevent the spread of cancer.
By Jennifer Warner
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D
© 2006 WebMD, LLC.. All Rights Reserved. A Japanese study suggests that early in lung cancer's progression, cells within a tumor may pave the way for cancer's invasion by triggering processes that allow for the spread of disease. By interrupting these signals, researchers were able to block the development of cancer's spread to lungs in mice.
Cancer advances through a process of metastasis in which the cancer spreads from the initial site to other areas of the body, making it more deadly and difficult to treat. By learning more about the processes that trigger this spread, researchers say they may be able to develop new cancer treatment strategies.
In the study, researcher Sachie Hiratsuka of Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine and colleagues studied mice bred to develop cancer.
They found certain chemicals were produced in the lung by factors secreted by the primary tumor. These chemicals then prompted the migration of both inflammatory and tumor cells to the lung.
Researchers found an amplifying circuit was created between the primary tumor and the targeted area to facilitate the tumor's invasion. But interrupting this circuit of signals effectively stopped the invasion or spread of cancer to the lungs in mice.
If further studies confirm these results, published in Nature Cell Biology, researchers say targeting this preparatory period in tumors may open up a new avenue to prevent the spread of cancer.
SOURCES: Hiratsuka, S. Nature Cell Biology, Nov. 26, 2006 online edition. News release, Nature and the Nature Research Journals.
By Jennifer Warner
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D
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Perhaps if we humans were to go back to the garden grown veggies, home grown meat and avoid so called canned and processed meats, we could beat the cancer problem. But then that would put thousands out of work, TO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!
The increase in cancers is horrific, children getting cancers and adult diseases that we never saw much in our years of nursing 50 years ago. Of course there are many sounding good excuses for this, but what is the real reason. In fact childrens lives seem to be more in danger now than before when we had hooping cough, etc, more seem to be dying each year than before... It would be good to get stats from someone who is not involved in these areas above, but really all we have to do is go ot the hospitals and see how many children have cancers and are dying, and this doesn't include ADD, Autism, cot deaths, etc which are all fairly new, I never came across them when I was nursing.