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Scientists discover the ‘roadmap’ that aggressive cancer uses to spread around the body – identifying ways to block its escape
  • Cancer cells have to escape from the scaffolding that surrounds tumours – a structure called the extracellular matrix – in order to spread
  • Researchers discovered that the layout of the matrix drives cancer cells to change their shape, increasing their ability to spread
  • Patients with melanoma tumours with these features had shorter survival times
  • The findings could help doctors spot which tumours are likely to be aggressive and cause metastatic cancer
  • This opens new avenues for treating cancer before it spreads – by targeting the surroundings of the tumour, instead of the cancer cell itself

Scientists have discovered a new way to predict which tumours will become aggressive before they metastasise and spread around the body.

New research, published in Nature Communications, reveals how cancer cells are altered by their surroundings, enabling them to change their shape and break out of a tumour. The discovery paves the way for treatments that will tackle cancer before it can spread.

Tumours are held together by a structure called the extracellular matrix (ECM), which acts like the scaffolding around a building under construction.

A team from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London (BCI-QMUL), discovered how cancer cells use the layout of this scaffolding structure as a ‘roadmap’ to leave the tumour. They found that the ECM triggers changes within the cancer cells themselves – altering their shape and boosting their ability to travel to different parts of the body.

This breakthrough, which is the …

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Scientists discover the ‘roadmap’ that aggressive cancer uses to spread around the body – identifying ways to block its escape

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