Cancer Tissue

Scientists at Cambridge have identified a protein that plays a key role in cancer metastasis, which not only hints at a new potential treatment but reveals for the first time that this process isn’t unique to cancer, as previously thought.

A compelling study is suggesting all cancer cells may have the capacity to enter states of dormancy as a survival mechanism to avoid destruction from chemotherapy. And the mechanism these cells deploy notably resembles one used by hibernating animals.

Dormant tumor cells can sit quietly for years but exactly what reactivates these sleeping cancer cells is unknown. A new study is offering a novel hypothesis, suggesting stress hormones can trigger a chain of events that reawaken these dormant cells.

Cancer spreads easily, and a common location for secondary tumors to appear is the lungs. Now, scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have developed a way to treat metastatic tumors in the lungs, by attaching immune-baiting drugs to red blood cells.

Gold has shown promise in fighting cancer in many studies, and now researchers have found a way to grow gold nanoparticles inside cancer cells within 30 minutes. From there, the gold can help with imaging and even be heated up to kill the tumors.

The long-term results of a massive international trial, spanning almost two decades, has shown a single session of a novel form of radiotherapy is as effective in treating most breast cancers as a conventional radiotherapy plan lasting several weeks.

Tumors are made up of many different types of cancer cells, and we can’t always clear them all out. Now Oxford researchers have developed a way to track the genetic “life histories” of thousands of individual cancer cells at once, which may lead to more effective and personalized cancer treatments.

In a move that could revolutionize the development of new cancer treatments, researchers from the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) have created the world's first virtual platform to host 3D copies of human cancer tissues.

A new imaging technique would give doctors the ability to ascertain whether all traces of a tumor have been removed while in the operating room, thus avoiding having the patient return to surgery weeks later for a second procedure.

Billed as "a pill on a string," the Cytosponge is designed to scrape off cells from the length of the oesophagus as it is yanked out after swallowing, offering up a larger sample for inspection for signs of cancer.

Scientists from the University of Toronto have conducted research into how breast tissue regeneration is regulated, working with the mammary glands of genetically modified mice. The findings suggest that development of the tissue could be manipulated to avoid the effects of aging.

One of nature’s most notorious psychopaths may be giving cancer patients new hope. The University of Queensland is developing new cameras based on the mantis shrimp’s eyes that can detect a variety of cancer tissues.