Metastasis News and Research

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Metastasis is the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. A tumor formed by cells that have spread is called a “metastatic tumor” or a “metastasis.” The metastatic tumor contains cells that are like those in the original (primary) tumor. The plural form of metastasis is metastases

Discovery of potential target for metastatic cancer

The deadliest part of the cancer process, metastasis, appears to rely on help from macrophages, potent immune system cells that usually defend vigorously against disease, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report.

10 Aug 2009

Two significant advances in treating lung cancer

Dr. Glen Weiss of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare this week announced two significant advances in treating lung cancer at an international cancer research conference.

7 Aug 2009

Discovery of cells responsible for bladder cancer spread

Johns Hopkins scientists have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer's growth and spread using a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth. The findings, reported in the July Stem Cells, could help scientists develop new ways of finding and attacking similar cells in other types of cancer.

6 Aug 2009

Scientists isolate protein that affects both the expression of genes and the transport of proteins

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have isolated a unique protein that appears to have a dual function and could lead to a "boon in medicine." The findings are published in the August issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.

6 Aug 2009

Research points to new targets for melanoma

Recent research has uncovered an unexpected vulnerability in deadly melanoma cells that, when exploited, can cause the cancer cells to turn against themselves.

3 Aug 2009

Artificial intelligence used to diagnose metastatic cancer

When doctors are managing care for women with breast cancer, the information available to them profoundly influences the type of care they recommend. Knowing whether a woman's cancer has metastasized, for instance, directly affects how her doctors will approach treatment -- which may in turn influence the outcome of that treatment.

28 Jul 2009

Smoking increases likelihood that pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma will become metastatic

Smoking has once again been implicated in the development of advanced cancer. Exposure to nicotine by way of cigarette smoking may increase the likelihood that pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma will become metastatic, according to researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson.

27 Jul 2009

Caspase-8 protein plays an important role in proliferation and invasion of cancer cells

Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research have found that the Caspase-8 protein, long known to play a major role in promoting programmed cell death (apoptosis), helps relay signals that can cause cancer cells to proliferate, migrate and invade surrounding tissues. The study was published in the journal Cancer Research on June 15.

24 Jul 2009

Specialized glycans act as tumor suppressors

Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that specialized complex sugar molecules (glycans) that anchor cells into place act as tumor suppressors in breast and prostate cancers.

6 Jul 2009

Discovery of genetic key to breast cancer's ability to survive and spread

New research led by investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) sheds light on a genetic function that gives breast cancer cells the ability to survive and spread to the bone years after treatment has been administered.

6 Jul 2009

New prostate cancer metastasis prediction method

Cancer experts at Johns Hopkins say a study tracking 774 prostate cancer patients for a median of eight years has shown that a three-way combination of measurements has the best chance yet of predicting disease metastasis.

1 Jul 2009

Discovery of novel mechanism that could be targeted to prevent cancer spread

Researchers have discovered a key to the function of a specific protein that helps control the levels of other critical proteins within cells, including a protein that suppresses the spread of cancer. The new information about the mechanism of action of the protein, called gp78, may enable researchers to explore new types of therapies to prevent the spread of cancer. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the June 26, 2009, issue of Molecular Cell.

28 Jun 2009

Multiparameter computational modeling of tumor invasion

Tumors are complex collections of cells whose behavior has proven difficult to understand, let alone predict. As a result, oncologists are often surprised by how a particular patient responds to a given course of therapy.

28 Jun 2009

Discovery of potent metastasis inhibitor

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have isolated a potent inhibitor of tumor metastasis made by tumor cells, one that could potentially be harnessed as a cancer treatment.

23 Jun 2009

Targeting tumor behavior may find new anti-cancer agents

Ohio State University cancer researchers have used computational and genomic methods to identify possible anti-cancer agents that may block a particular kind of tumor behavior. The agents target multiple genes associated with that behavior at one time.

18 Jun 2009

RNA snippet reduces the spread of aggressive breast cancer

A low cellular level of a tiny fragment of RNA appears to increase the spread of breast cancer in mouse models of the disease, according to researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

15 Jun 2009

Novel method directs and separates cancer cells from normal cells

The vast majority of cancer deaths are due to metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from its primary site to other parts of the body. These metastatic cells tend to move more than their non-metastatic variants but this movement is poorly understood. Scientists are studying cancer cells intently with the hope they can learn to control the movements of the dangerous cells.

15 Jun 2009

Discovery of key gene in deadly inflammatory breast cancer

Aggressive, deadly and often misdiagnosed, inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most lethal form of primary breast cancer, often striking women in their prime and causing death within 18 to 24 months.

15 Jun 2009

Discovery of four new breast cancer targets

Four suspects often found at the scene of the crime in cancer are guilty of the initiation and progression of breast cancer in mice that are resistant to the disease, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the June edition of Cancer Cell.

10 Jun 2009

Hormone therapy may confer more aggressive properties to prostate tumours

Hormone therapy is often given to patients with advanced prostate cancer. While it is true that the treatment prevents growth of the tumour, it also changes its properties. Some of these changes may result in the tumour becoming more aggressive and more liable to form metastases. This is one of the conclusion of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

10 Jun 2009