The key to beating cancer: metastasis

In spite of the recent decline in incidence rates of breast cancer in Europe and the United States, it is still the second-highest cause of death among women. Most of these patients died as a result of the metastatic spread of the tumour. The fact that primary tumours have a predisposition to selectively invade different organs has been acknowledged for some time. Recent studies suggest that collections of altered genes in breast and prostate cancer cells confer a selective advantage in the colonisation of the bones or the lungs. The capacity to colonise different organs depends on the abilities of the tumour cells that are spread, as well as on certain requirements that may be present in the microenvironment of the target organs. Therefore, the different stages of the metastasis represent the random accumulation of characteristics that provide the necessary advantage for the tumour to adapt to a microenvironment different to that of its origin. These finds reveal how the independent and non-independent functions of aggressive cancer cells may become linked, thereby increasing the metastatic potential.

Cycle: Stars of research to help build the future - 1

Organized by: Residence for Researchers CSIC-Generalitat of Catalonia and Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA)