Scientists Decode "Molecular Chatter" That Makes Cancer Cells Spread

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Cancer / Oncology Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;Biology / Biochemistry Article Date: 02 May 2013 - 0:00 PDT

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Principal investigator Russell Taichman, a professor at the University of Michigan (U-M) School of Dentistry in Ann Arbor, and colleagues, write about their discovery in the 30 April online issue of Nature Communications.

It is becoming increasingly clear that cancer cells are wily, well-travelled adversaries that are capable of side-stepping the treatments we throw at them to try and stop them spreading.

For instance, a recent study that produced a catalogue of the physical properties of cancer cells, found they are nimbler and more aggressive than healthy cells because they are better able to pass through small spaces, and they exert a greater force on their environment.

Now Taichman and colleagues have discovered a set of molecular signals that causes them to go into overdrive and spread.

For some time, scientists have known that tumors summon the body's healing cells, and this is a major reason cancer is difficult to treat.

Think of a cancerous tumor as a wound that won't heal: just like a benign tumor it sends out distress signals that recruit healing-type cells called mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs.

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Scientists Decode "Molecular Chatter" That Makes Cancer Cells Spread