For the first time, researchers have succeeded in stopping the spread of cancer and the formation of metastases by disrupting the mechanism by which tumor cells move.
This is a discovery that could well revolutionize cancer research. For the first time, researchers from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, have used an experimental model and succeeded in stopping the spread of cancer by disrupting the mechanism of tumor cells. Their work has just been published in the journal NatureCommunications.
‘Sneaky cells’ changing the way they move
Researchers at the University of Minnesota focused on metastases, these secondary tumors formed from cancer cells, which break away from the primary tumor to migrate through lymphatic vessels or blood vessels and settle in another part. from the body.
These metastases are responsible for 90% of cancer deaths. In fact, the chances of overcoming the cancer are much greater if the disease has not spread beyond the primary tumour.
To curb the spread of metastases, the researchers developed a tumor environment in the laboratory to observe how breast cancer cells moved through it. They then tried using drugs to stop the cells by disrupting the mechanisms serving as their motors. But, to their surprise, the tumor cells did not cease their activity: they switched to a completely different way of moving, making them look like “oozing” drops.
“Cancer cells are very sneaky,” notes lead author Dr. Paolo P. Provenzano, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. “We didn’t expect the cells to change their motion,” he admits. The scientists then targeted both modes of cell movement at the same time, which “stopped the cells in their tracks”. “It’s almost as if we had destroyed their GPS so that they couldn’t find the highways. (…) The cells remained seated there and did not move”, analyzes the researcher.
Block the “highways” followed by tumor cells
The second stage of the work carried out by the scientists involved disrupting the “contact guidance” used by tumor cells to move through the body and form metastases.
While these contact clues have not yet been well understood by the medical community, researchers insist that they are the ones that help, a bit like “highways”, cancer cells to detect and follow the path of tumors. .
To study how cells recognize and follow these pathways, the team developed two-dimensional microenvironments that mimic patterns of guidance cues in tumors. “Using these controlled network microenvironments, we were able to test hundreds of cell movement events in a few hours, compared to one or two in the same time period by imagining a tumor,” says Dr. Erdem D. Tabdanov , lead author of the study and a researcher in the biomedical department of the University.
Made by the University of Minnesota, this short video shows what happened when researchers used drugs to target the motor movements of breast cancer cells. The cells shifted to a fluid, oozing-like motion that relies on different mechanisms.
Now, the team of researchers wants to test their method on other types of cancer and then start animal trials. If successful, human trials could follow within a few years. “Ultimately, we would like to find ways to suppress the movement of cancer cells while enhancing the movement of immune cells to fight cancer,” concludes Prof. Paolo P. Provenzano.
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