Groundbreaking discovery unlocks secrets of cancer’s deadly spread

Scientists have made a ground-breaking discovery in tracking cancer spread in the body, potentially leading to more effective treatment for cancer patients.

In their study published on September 23, scientists at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York revealed their technology which monitors the movement of individual cancer cells using genetic “barcodes”, giving new insights into metastatic cancer research.

Progress in metastasis research

Metastatic cancer is one in which the cancer cells spread from the initial point to other parts of the body over time. Scientists have been in the dark on how this cancer spread happens over the years, as little was known about how to track it.

With this new discovery however, researchers now understand how the spread works. The study shows that while most of the cancer cells remain at the site of the initial tumor, some “aggressive” cells initiate the migration to other parts of the body, leading to complications.

Using prostate cancer as a case study and with the use of Evolution in Cancer Prostate (EvoCaP) and Evolutionary Lineage Tracing in R (EvoTraceR), the team created a cellular GPS System by tagging individual cancer cells with unique DNA sequences.

According to CSHL Professor Adam Siepel, this barcoding method allows scientists to effectively trace how the cancer has spread from its origin to the metastasized tissues. 

Interestingly, the researchers discovered that only a few aggressive cells cause the emergence of new tumors in organs other than those in which the initial tumor occurred. 

Hopefully, this discovery will completely revolutionize cancer treatment not just for prostate cancer patients, but for other types of cancer as well.

A timely discovery

The discovery of this novel method of tracking the spread of metastatic cancer cells could not have come at a better time, because cancer cases are on the increase globally, especially among young people. 

According to an article published earlier this year, more young people are coming down with cancer cases that are typical of the elderly.

With this more effective approach to tracking metastatic cancer spread, many young lives could be saved that would otherwise have little to zero chance of survival.