Tumour discovery signals new hope for breast cancer treatment
Healthcare experts have long held the belief that cancer tumours grow in size until metastasis occurs, when cells leave the tumour and infect other areas of the body.
However, new research conducted in the US has shown that it is possible for cells which have left the primary tumour to return to it and encourage further growth.
The study was conducted at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where a team found that cells which spread cancer can be even more damaging than first thought.
However, the discovery may have an upside in the form of creation of new treatments, said the study's first author Dr Mi-Young Kim, a research fellow in the cancer biology and genetics programme at the facility.
He told cancer cover holders that the process of a cell returning to the original tumour is known as "self-seeding".
"Our work not only provides evidence for the self-seeding phenomenon and reveals the mechanism of this process, but it also shows the possible role of self-seeding in tumour progression," he explained.
According to the specialist, the ramifications may be particularly pertinent to breast cancer sufferers or those classed as having a high risk of developing that form of the disease.
"The findings also show that circulating breast cancer cells that are capable of self-seeding a breast tumour have a similar gene expression pattern to breast cancer cells that are capable of spreading to the lungs, bones and brain, and therefore have an increased potential to metastasize to these organs," Dr Kim explained.
Lead author Dr Joan Massague, chair of the cancer biology and genetics programme at the facility, told health insurance customers that medical professionals can now concentrate on formulating therapies which interrupt the self-seeding process and may ultimately save thousands of lives.
Posted by James McCann
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