Scientists Develop Model that Advances Understanding of the Process of Cancer Metastasis

Scientists Develop Model that Advances Understanding of the Process of Cancer Metastasis

Metastasis of a tumor from its primary site to other parts of the body continues to be the main reason why people die from cancer.

The group theorized that introducing tumor cells into animals just prior to performing a lung culture might allow them to study the metastatic progression as it was happening. With this aim in mind, they developed an ex vivo (PuMA) in which cancer cells marked with a fluorescent molecule can be viewed during metastatic progression—from a single tumor cell to a secondary site in the lung.

The scientists acknowledge that there are other approaches to studying metastasis in animals, in real-time, but explain that those approaches require microscopic tools that are not widely available and not amenable to the study of the lung.

The PuMA allows the serial assessment of metastatic progression without such instruments and provides a new window into the steps involved in metastatic progression

n this experiment, the scientists compared a series of high and low-potential metastatic cells both in mice and in the PuMA. Malignant tumors are composed of cells with different characteristics and only certain cells have metastatic potential; the establishment of cell lines with high or low metastatic potential is necessary to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the metastatic process.