Cells that break away from a tumor and colonize other regions of the body express genes that are different from those of the cancer from which they originate. Now, a Baylor College of Medicine study has found that metastases can be classified into four cancer subtypes regardless of the primary cancer. This finding describes which genes are active in each one, making it possible to establish the most appropriate treatments for each patient according to the subtype of metastasis they have developed.
During metastasis, the mechanical properties of the nucleus make translocation of this organelle the rate-limiting step during constrained migration, and these properties are regulated through interactions between the cytoskeleton, integral nuclear envelope (NE) proteins, the nuclear lamina and chromatin.
Pancreatic cancer is an exceptionally lethal cancer that is notoriously treatment resistant, in part due to poor vascularization in the tumor microenvironment. Investigators working at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), reported in the Jan. 16, 2023, issue of Nature Cell Biology on the discovery of a pathway that was initiated by isolation stresses (e.g., hypoxia, nutrient deprivation, and/or lack of extracellular matrix, ECM) leading to this cellular transformation in the tumor-initiating pancreatic cancer cell.
In 2022, neuroscience research made significant advances by understanding the role of large-scale neuronal connections in disorders. So did cancer research.
In 2022, neuroscience research made significant advances by understanding the role of large-scale neuronal connections in disorders. So did cancer research.
Researchers from Fudan University presented data from a study that aimed to assess the significance of a newly found long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), Ewing sarcoma-associated transcript 1 (EWSAT1), in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis.
Researchers from Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. presented preclinical data for PH-109, a novel self-delivering RNAi targeting connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), which was originally developed and assessed in early clinical trials as potential treatment of dermal hypertrophic scarring and subretinal fibrosis. The current study evaluated PH-109 in a mouse model of metastatic breast cancer.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) transit through the bloodstream and they exhibit heterogeneity in their expression of epithelial and mesenchymal marker proteins, including the cadherin proteins. Based on these findings, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated the potential of the dual anti-cadherin antibody, 23C6, in targeting CTC-dependent blood-borne metastasis.
