New study sheds light on movement of cancer cells

UK scientists have uncovered new insights into the way cancer spreads through the body, a discovery that could form the foundation of new treatment methods in future.

A team at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute have developed a computer model, based on skin cancer cells, that predicts how a cancer cell might move under different conditions.

It found that these cells use different types of movement depending on the type of environment they are in, crawling along flat surfaces and squeezing through gaps when presented with webbed surroundings.

This opens up the possibility of using these behaviours as a target for treatments to stop cancer cells from spreading.

Dr Melda Tozluoglu, the lead author of the study, said: "Our work focuses on understanding how the cancer cells move in the body, so that we can hamstring them – lock them into place so that other treatments can destroy them."

The spread of cancer is known as metastasis, with the dissemination of tumour cells through the body causing the disease to become more difficult to treat.