Stem cells may prompt cancer spread
Dangerous changes in cancer cells which allow them to spread around the body could be triggered by the body’s own stem cells, say US scientists.
A Whitehead Institute team found human breast cancers in mice are more likely to spread if mixed with stem cells from the bone marrow.
They believe these changes could be blocked or reversed - making the cancer less deadly.
UK experts said the Nature study could point to future treatments.
When an original cancer spreads to form new tumours in other parts of the body such as the lung or liver, this is called metastasis, and often means that the patient is far less likely to be cured of the disease.
Doctors hope that by understanding how and why a tumour suddenly changes its behaviour, a treatment could be found to stop this happening, and keep the cancer fixed in one part of the body.
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