Today there are over 100 medical professionalsTypes of cancer known. And they all have one thing in common: they spread throughout the body over time. Metastasis is life-threatening, but there are no treatments that can stop the process. Researchers at the Cancer Center at the University of Colorado, USA, have therefore carried out a new study with a focus on “metastasis”. Four years ago, scientists succeeded in proving in an earlier study that cancer cells can virtually “communicate” with each other and thus promote metastasis. Now the same team wanted to find out how this communication actually works.
How tumor cells promote metastasis: A protein enables communication between cancer cells
Metastasis is a process that can be triggered by various factors. The structure of the first metastasized cancer cells usually undergoes a change by chance. The modified cells then release a specific protein. It sends signals to other cancer cells nearby and promotes a change in their structure too. The metastasized cells then form groups and migrate through the body.
So it is extremely important to find out how doctors can stop or at least slow down this process. They could achieve this by preventing the release of protein. This means that the metastasized cells can no longer communicate with other tumor cells and form metastases.
Will there soon be new therapeutic approaches for patients with metastases?
Up to this point, there are no specific therapies for patients with metastases. But the researchers hope to change that. As part of a third study, they would now like to find out specific treatment methods for patients with metastases. To do this, they will examine the protein and try to attack it through various methods.
With the current study, they managed to set a specific goal for the first time and describe the process of metastasis in detail. Until today, doctors have always assumed that there was no point in researching the inhibition processes. But that will certainly change in the future.
