Researchers Might Have Found Solution to Prevent Metastatic Cancer

Since the discovery of cancer, doctors have tried to prevent it from spreading into new regions of the body.

So far, it has been thought that tumors metastasize simply by breaking off a few cells which then migrate to a new site and begin the generation of a new tumor, but a new study carried out by researchers at the Cornell University showed that tumors use bone marrow cell scouts to prepare new locales for tumor development.

The primary tumors forces bone marrow cells to migrate to new regions. Once in a new location, the cells alter the surface environment of a new site or organ, priming it for metastasis or new tumor growth.

In addition, cells at the site of metastasis produce a complex of the protein fibronectin, which then acts as an adhesive to attract cancer cells.

"These nests provide attachment factors for the tumor cells to implant and nurture them. It causes them not only to bind but to proliferate. Once that all takes place we have a fully formed metastatic site or secondary tumor," Professor David Lyden said.

In a study on mice, researchers killed off bone marrow and replaced them with special new ones. The new bone marrow cells, marked with a green fluorescent protein, were brightly colored, so the researchers could observe them. The mice were then injected with lung cancer cells.

The researchers were surprised when the bone marrow cells reached the lungs days before any cancer cells. They found that the bone marrow cells arrived to prepare the lungs for the cancer to spread.

By assessing the number of circulating bone marrow cells, doctors will be able to predict when a cancer is metastasizing.

This discovery could pave the way to new drugs which could be programmed to block the bone marrow cells utilized by tumors.