At the University of Basel, a mechanism has been decoded that puts some cancer cells into hibernation and prevents metastases. Now hope for treatments is growing.
Killer cells monitor the ‘sleep’ of cancer cells and thus prevent them from forming metastases.
Photo: iStock / Uni Basel
Why?
Scientists in Basel have discovered an approach to counteracting the development of metastases, the University of Basel wrote in a communication. It is related to cancer cells that have left the original tumor and spread throughout the body. “Individual cancer cells migrate from the tumor to other tissues in the body, where they also survive chemotherapy in a kind of hibernation,” the statement explains. However, this hibernation is prone to failure, and cancer cells can wake up after several years. In the case of breast cancer, about every fourth patient has what is called a metastatic relapse, and 90 percent die at some point from metastasis. If these cells could be better forced into hibernation, such scenarios could be avoided.
“Total coffee aficionado. Travel buff. Music ninja. Bacon nerd. Beeraholic.”
More Stories
The tumor can penetrate the outer skin
We will tell you the real reason for this physical phenomenon that caused the failure of Isaac Newton
A mysterious discovery on Mars – NASA team talks about “tire tracks” or “dragon scales”