Scientists have found a way to stop the spread of cancer

In a new study conducted at the University of Minnesota, scientists have shown how to deprive cancer cells of their ability to move and stop them from spreading through the body. The discovery may herald a new era in the fight against cancer.

ComoTumor cells move through the body according to certain patternsow. The patterns are like highways for them, whichorym move first within the tumorow to eventually enter blood vessels and adjacent tissues and invade the entire body. Patients whooers have a large number of such patternsoIn their tumors, they have a lower chance of survival.

Until now, scientists have not known how toob comocancer rks recognize these patterns and how they move through them. This was shown by researchers at the University of Minnesota using engineered microenvironments that mimic conditions present in the tumor. They stopped the spread of comotumor records even after they have changed theiroj sposob of moving.

The researchers created laboratory versions of the tumor environment and observed how theyob move comocancerous. They conducted their research on a breast cancer model. Using ro¿nancial medicineoin probowali stop comorki, the plantocating mechanisms thatore serve them as engines. When they found the right chemical compound, whichory has stopped comorks of cancer, these, completely surprising researchers, have changed the wayob movement.

– Komocancerous tumors are very insidious. We did not expect them to change the waysob move. This forced us to modify our tactics to simultaneously attack both types of wayoin the movement of the comocancer rec – admitted Paolo Provenzano, one of the authors of theoin a publication.

A simultaneous attack on both types of traffic will bringofame effect. – It looked like we would destroy their GPS. Comorats couldn’t find their highways and only that stopped them in their tracks. They simply stayed where they were and did not move – explained Provenzano.

To study how theyob move comork cancer cells and how they recognize their pathways, compositeoł researchers designed special microenvironments thatore mimicked the tumor environment. This allowed them to greatly accelerate their research.

– Using a network of controlled microenvironments, we were able to test hundreds of comoThe new method of attacking both types of cancer in a few hours in porointeracting with one or two in the same time frame by imaging tumor – said Erdem Tabdanov, head ofowny author of the study.

The research could significantly helpoc in developing new cancer treatmentsow. About 90 percent of deathsow associated with cancer occurs because of metastaticow, or the ability of cancerow to attack nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body. The chances of eradicating the disease are much higher if the disease does not spread beyond the primary tumoror.

Scientists will now want to test their findings on an animal model of. They will check the roalso the wayob to inhibit the spread of comocancer rek on other types of cancerow. The study authors hope to move into clinical trials with humans within a few years, but first they need to see how the compounds used interact with healthy cellsork and what the side effects of doing so might be.

– Ultimately, we would like to find ways to stop the movement of comotumor replicas, while increasing the movement of comoimmune recs to fight cancer – stressed Provenzano.

Sourceosource: University of Minnesota, photo. Tabdanov/Provenzano, University of Minnesota. In the photo comork cancer cells along with a labeled grid of their pathwayow