Metastatic disease—when cancer spreads from the primary tumor to other parts of the body—is the cause of most cancer deaths.
Metastatic disease—when cancer spreads from the primary tumor to other parts of the body—is the cause of most cancer deaths. While researchers understand how cancer cells escape the primary site to seed new tumors, it’s not well understood why some of these wayward cancer cells spawn new tumors—sometimes decades later—while others do not.
Now, a research team at the National Cancer Institute-designated Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) has discovered a natural immune mechanism in mice that stops escaped cancer cells from developing into tumors elsewhere in the body. The findings were published today in the journal Cell.
“Preventing or curing metastases is the most critical challenge in cancer,” said study leader Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D., director of MECCC’s Cancer Dormancy Institute. “We think our findings have the potential to point to new therapies to prevent or treat metastatic disease.” The study’s co-first authors are Erica Dalla, Ph.D., a former student, and Michael Papanicolaou, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso’s lab.
Read more at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Image: Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D. (Credit: Albert Einstein College of Medicine)
