Scientists elaborate on 'mouse-window' cancer cells study
A new method of observing individual cancer cells has been described in detail for the first time by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
The cells were watched for a period of several days in their natural environment - something considered a breakthrough in understanding forms of the disease such as breast and ovarian cancer.
Information gathered during the observation included how cancer cells invade surrounding tissue and reach blood vessels - the initial steps of the metastasis.
A mouse had a small window fitted to its chest and researchers were able to track the progress of the cells tagged with a "photoswitch".
This enabled them to gather information on the individually marked cells.
John Condeelis, structural biology and co-director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Centre, said: "Mapping the fate of tumour cells in different regions of a tumour was not possible before the development of the photoswitching technology."
Women with breast cancer insurance might already know around 20 per cent of diagnoses are made in women under the age of 50. 
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