A study led by Princeton University researchers has revealed that the gene Metadherin — which is implicated in promoting the spread of breast cancer tumors — only stimulates tumor growth when the protein made by the gene interacts with a second protein known as SND1. (more…)
This story is short. Not much is known about metastasis.
And that’s the point. (more…)
Improvement enables ‘liquid biopsies’ for metastatic melanoma
Researchers at UCLA report that they have refined a method they previously developed for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients’ tumors and circulate in the blood. With the improvements to their device, which uses a Velcro-like nanoscale technology, they can now detect and isolate single cancer cells from patient blood samples for analysis.
Circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, play a crucial role in cancer metastasis, spreading from tumors to other parts of the body, where they form new tumors. When these cells are isolated from the blood early on, they can provide doctors with critical information about the type of cancer a patient has, the characteristics of the individual cancer and the potential progression of the disease. Doctors can also tell from these cells how to tailor a personalized treatment to a specific patient. (more…)
Yale Cancer Center researchers have identified a gene in melanoma that can dramatically affect the spread of the disease. The study, published in the journal Cancer Cell, provides new insight into how melanoma metastasizes in patients with advanced disease, and which organs are most likely to be affected. These findings could potentially lead to new drug treatments.
Malignant melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer, accounting for 80 percent of all skin cancer deaths. Nearly all melanoma deaths are a result of metastasis, which can occur early in the course of tumor growth in the skin. (more…)
