Scientists think that they might have found the reason why cancer spreads, which is the key to creating drugs that can help prevent cancer from spreading. A University College London team carried out experiments that have found some clues that suggest why cancer moves from one region of the body to another. This is important because in most cases cancer deaths do not occur from the first tumour that is discovered, but instead by secondary growth.
Scientists were able to find a mechanism that they titled the ‘chase and run’ which is a patch that shows how healthy and diseased cells tend to follow after each around the body. Professor Roberto Mayor from the team explained that no one was sure how the process was started but now they believe that they know the cycle. Since they know the cycle it will now be easier to develop drugs that will help them to stop the interaction from occurring.
Although the London team has not yet figured out what causes cancer, the discovery of what causes cancer to spread could offer vital clues to help prevent the disease from spreading and claiming more lives. The basic goal of the study is to figure out why cancerous cells are prone to attach themselves to healthy cells and then move throughout the body.
They were able to do this by mimicking cells and then watching the behaviour of the cells. The results of the experiment proved that the healthy cells were not only attracted by the diseased cells, but they also tended to follow them as they attempted to escape. In other words, they both attracted and repelled each other leading to a carrot and donkey chase that led the diseased cells to moving throughout the body in an attempt to get away.
