How cancer cells muscle their way into other organs

Cancer cell invading tissue - Credit: Emad Moeendarbary, UCL The biomechanics of how cancer cells escape from the bloodstream to invade other organs has been described for the first time by researchers from UCL, MIT and their collaborators The study, published in Advanced Science , found that the more porous and the softer the tissue, the more likely cancer cells were to force their way in and were able to do so more quickly, providing valuable data for research seeking to prevent or halt cancer metastasis, which is the leading cause of cancer mortality. Drugs that influence the stiffness of the environment around tumours - such as PAT-1251 and PXS-5505 - are being tested in clinical trials for cancers that have not yet spread, and the hope is that similar approaches could be used to treat metastasised cancers. Solid cancers emerge in one place in the body, known as the primary tumour site. Metastasis is when cancer cells break away from the primary tumour and spread to other parts of the body via the bloodstream or lymphatic system, which can lead to secondary tumours in other organs. The process of cancer cells breaking out of the circulatory system into other tissues is known as extravasation. Most cancer research focuses on spotting cancers early and treating them before they spread, which has resulted in improved outcomes for patients. But once a cancer has metastasised it becomes much harder to treat, underlined by the fact that metastasis is a factor in the vast majority of cancer deaths.