March 29, 2018.
By publishing the results of their study on what could be the 80th organ of the human body, American researchers have no doubt offered a new weapon in the fight against cancer.
An organ to protect the human body from certain shocks
So far, science considers the human body to be made up of 79 organs. But recent discoveries by American researchers could lead medicine to reconsider this figure to bring an 80th organ to this list. The latter, called “interstitium”, would be located below the skin, but also around the lungs, digestive tract or the circulatory system..
It would be composed of a layer of tissue in which there would be micro compartments filled with liquid. The latter could play the role of shock absorbers in order to soften certain impacts against the organs which they protect.
A new breakthrough in the fight against cancer
Until now, the doctors knew the existence of this layer of tissue, but they did not know the presence of the fluid compartments. The observation techniques used today have the drawback of destroying these kinds of “bubbles” before the examined tissue arrives under the microscope. But thanks to a new technique, commonly called “confocal endomicroscopy”, scientists have been able to observe, without damaging it, this new organ (this new status is however not yet official).
This scientific breakthrough could be much more important than simply adding an organ to the list of those that make up the human body. The interstitium would indeed represent a real breakthrough in the fight against cancer. These fluid bubbles could play a significant role in the circulation of cancer cells in the body, and this additional knowledge could therefore help doctors better anticipate the development of the disease. If sampled and analyzed, the liquid contained in the compartments of the interstitium could also offer new diagnostic possibilities.
Gaelle Latour
Read also What are the most transplanted organs?
