Scientists Discover How Cancer Spreads: BBC
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A cancer cell
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LONDON,
August 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – A breakthrough by
scientists led to the discovery of the way cancer spreads round the
body, the BBC’s online service reported Monday, August 5.
“They
have discovered that a key protein molecule - called Src - helps to
loosen the structure of tissues surrounding a tumor, opening the way
for cancer cells to spread around the body,” the BBC said.
It
added that the discovery at Glasgow’s Beatson Institute could lead
to new drugs that block this action and prevent cancer spreading.
Src
was the first ever molecule to be implicated in the development of
cancer, in particular bowel cancer. However, until now nobody knew
exactly what it did.
Cells
in healthy tissues are bound together by a number of molecules that
work as a set of scaffolding.
During
the development of cancer the scaffolding breaks down and tissues
become loose and disorganized. Src seems to play a key role in this
process, the BBC said.
The
molecule is vital for maintaining the flexibility of healthy tissues
and making sure there's plenty of space for future growth.
But
during the development of cancer it becomes over active and begins to
disrupt a tissue’s normal structure.
“We
were pretty sure that Src played an important role in bowel cancer,
but untangling the precise nature of that role has taken a long
time,” said lead researcher Professor Margaret Frame.
“We’ve
now found that the molecule triggers several different chemical
signals, affecting cells in a variety of ways.
“Designing
drugs to intercept these signals could be an important way of
preventing bowel cancer from spreading.”
Professor
Frame and her colleagues found that Src sends out instructions for the
removal of a molecule called E-cadherin from the surface of cells, BBC
said.
E-cadherin
is a vital component of the scaffolding that holds cells together and
without it a tissue's structure becomes disrupted.
Src
appears to work with another set of molecules - called integrins - to
form a new and much looser type of tissue structure that helps bowel
cancer cells to move and spread.
Professor
Frame said: “Improving our understanding of how cancer spreads
should help in the development of drugs to block the process.
“If
we could confine cancer cells to the original tumor it would give
surgery a much greater chance of success and reduce the risk of the
disease reappearing in other parts of the body.”
When
detected early bowel cancer is often curable, since most of the cancer
cells remain within the original tumor, where they can be removed by
surgery.
But
over time, cells start to move away from the tumor into the
bloodstream and lymphatic system, which act as highways to the rest of
the body.
Once
bowel cancer has spread, the chances of successful treatment are much
lower.
The
research is published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
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