New research brings hope for the halting of metastasis

Scientists have discovered an ecosystem in advanced breast cancer in which the primary breast tumour sends out signals that stop metastasis, the growth of secondary tumours elsewhere in the body. This could lead to treatments being more effective and improvements in prognoses.
Co-lead researcher, Dr Christine Chaffer said: “This new research has yielded that rare thing, a clue from the cancer itself about new possibilities to fight its spread. Our goal is to work out how we can mimic this ‘freezing’ of secondary cancers, so that one day we might influence all breast cancers to keep their secondary tumours in check. When you have a primary tumour, there are untold numbers of breakaway cells that will travel throughout the body – but not all of them will form tumours. By some estimates less than 0.02% of breakaway cells will form secondary tumours so we have a real opportunity to bring this number down to zero. We want to understand exactly what the tumour is releasing to activate this immune response, and how immune cells are targeting the secondary sites. In principle, all of these steps present therapeutic opportunities that could be used to stop a cancer from developing any further.”
Dr Sandra McAllister, the other co-leader, said: “When breakaway cells are forced to remain in the transition state, they don’t grow very well, and their ability to form a new tumour is severely compromised. So, remarkably, by activating the immune response, the primary tumour essentially shuts down its own spread.”