New research, published in the magazine Nature Communicationshe has discovered how cancer cells They are altered by their environment, which allows them to change their shape and free themselves from a tumor.
The discovery, which is the culmination of almost a decade of research that began in King’s College de Londonpaves the way for treatments that will address cancer before it can spread.
The tumors remain united by a structure called Extracellular matrix (ECM)which acts as scaffolding around a building under construction.
A team from the London Cancer Research Institute, led by the Spanish Victoria Sanz-Morenoand the Barts Cancer Institute of Queen Mary University in London (BCI-QMul), has discovered how cancer cells use the disposition of this scaffolding structure as a ‘roadmap’ to leave the tumor.
They discovered that the extracellular matrix triggers changes within the cancer cells themselves, altering their shape and promoting their ability to travel to different parts of the body.
This advance means that aggressive tumors that They are likely to do metastasis Now they can be identified more easily at an earlier stage, which allows doctors to adapt the treatment before.
Medications are currently being developed to act on the arrangement of the extracellular matrix, as well as on the genes that These changes in cell form drivewhich could stop cancer before it can escape from the tumor and spread.
The research team analyzed tumor fabric of 99 Patients with leather cancer type melanoma and breast cancer.
The researchers observed that the extracellular matrix was distributed differently in three different areas of the tumor. Like a scaffolding, the extracellular matrix is formed by a series of components, including pole -shaped fibers.
In the center of the tumor, The fibers were dispersed and disorganized, while on the edge they were very close and thicker. On the outermost edge of the tumor, the fibers were arranged pointing out of the tumor, which provided the ‘clues’ that cancer cells had to follow while escaping from the tumor. On this outermost edge of the tumor, cancer cells were rounded, a more invasive cell form.
The team examined whether the tumor edge conditions make cancer cells more aggressive. They cultivated cancer cells of melanoma In a model of these conditions and injected them into mice.
Cancer cells cultivated in these conditions had more Probabilities to spread to the lungs and make metastasis that melanoma cells cultivated under control conditions with disorganized fibers.
The researchers observed differences in the type of genes present in the cells according to their origin in the tumor. The cells located on the edge of the tumor had More related genes With cell migration, the roundness of cell form and inflammation, which makes the cells more aggressive and are more likely to survive.
The team also observed an increase in the expression of enzyme genes that affect the Organization of the Matrixwhich highlights how cancer cells corrupt their surroundings to get out of the tumor.
When comparing these findings with those of patients with 14 different types of tumorsincluding melanoma, breast cancer, pancreas, lung and glioblastoma (aggressive brain cancer), researchers discovered that a greater presence of these genes was associated with a shorter survival time.
Researchers affirm that these findings open new paths of treatment to combat cancer before they can spread, such as medications aimed at Lisil oxidase (LOX)which are already found in clinical trials for other diseases.
“Our research has discovered the road map that follows the cancer cells to get out of a tumor and cause a tumor secondary In another part of the body. Now that we understand this road map, we can try to act on different aspects of it to stop the spread of aggressive cancers, “says Sanz-Moreno.
“The fibers of the structure surrounding the tumor are dense and are arranged as a path that cells must follow the farther from the edge of the tumor. We observe. Future research should explore ways of acting on this provision, for prevent cancer cells can escape and follow this path. We can also discover that acting on this dense fiber disposal means that other medications can reach cancer cells more easily, which could improve the effectiveness of treatments, “he concludes.
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