Metastasis

Researchers have found that antioxidants like vitamins C and E trigger a mechanism that stimulates the growth of new blood vessels in cancer tumors, helping them to grow and spread. They say it highlights the risk of taking unnecessary supplements.

Metastatic cancer accounts for up to 90% of all cancer deaths in the US annually. Now, researchers have trialed a first-of-its-kind monoclonal antibody drug that inhibits the process by which cancer cells spread, and results are promising.

Most people with breast cancer die not from the primary tumor but from metastasis, when the cancer spreads. Researchers have developed a compound that blocks the actions of a metastasis-causing protein, potentially reducing the spread of breast cancer.

Detecting circulating tumor cells among healthy blood cells is notoriously hard. Now an easy-to-use device can ID even a small number of cancer cells, potentially providing a huge breakthrough in non-invasive early detection, monitoring and treatment.

Scientists at Cambridge have identified a protein that plays a key role in cancer metastasis, which not only hints at a new potential treatment but reveals for the first time that this process isn’t unique to cancer, as previously thought.

A new study has turned up a new target in efforts to tackle metastatic cancers, the primary cause of death from the disease, by unearthing a protein that prevents cells from migrating to other parts of the body by sticking them to surrounding tissue.

Researchers at Princeton focusing on a single gene central to the ability of most major cancers to metastasize have discovered what they describe as a "silver bullet," in the form of a compound that can disable this gene in mice and human tissue.

A new study has found a key fatty acid found in palm oil can promote cancer metastasis in mice. The research, which does not claim dietary palm oil has cancer-causing properties in humans, could lead to new therapies that block cancer spread in the future.

Cancer becomes far more dangerous when it spreads through the body, known as metastasis. A newly identified protein stops cells getting into the bloodstream – and tumor cells can ignore it, which may reveal a new drug target for cancer treatment.

Leveraging a newfound ability to identify the "fittest" metastatic cancer cells, scientists at the UK's University of Salford have discovered that an already approved drug can be deployed to cut off their fuel supply, while leaving normal healthy cells unharmed.

Oncolytic viruses selectively kill cancer cells, but this can be ineffective if it alerts the immune system. Now scientists have tweaked these viruses to avoid detection by the immune system, allowing them to track down cancer even after it’s spread.

Cancer spreads easily, and a common location for secondary tumors to appear is the lungs. Now, scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have developed a way to treat metastatic tumors in the lungs, by attaching immune-baiting drugs to red blood cells.