Thursday 11 October 2012

How cancer cells break free from tumors

Although tumor metastasis causes about 90 percent of cancer deaths, the exact mechanism that allows cancer cells to spread from one part of the body to another is not well understood. One key question is how tumor cells detach from the structural elements that normally hold tissues in place, then reattach themselves in a new site. A new study from MIT cancer researchers reveals some of the cellular adhesion molecules that are critical to this process. Read more here.

Study mentioned: Reticker-Flynn NE, et al. A combinatorial extracellular matrix platform identifies cell-extracellular matrix interactions that correlate with metastasis. Nat Commun. 2012 Oct 9;3:1122. PMID: 23047680

No comments:

Post a Comment