Researchers have identified four hallmarks of cancer metastasis: MEDICINE AND HEALTH: Science Times

The combined forces of researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Kansas Cancer Center have identified four hallmarks of cancer metastasis when cancer is diagnosed with cancer. spread to different parts of the body at its starting point. It is believed that metastases are the cause of nearly 90% of cancer deaths.

Douglas Hurst, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at UAB, and Danny Welch, Deputy Director of Education at KUCC, conducted a literature review of more than 10,000 publications on metastasis and published their results in: Research against cancer, from the American Association for Cancer Research.

It can be quite difficult to treat metastases. Virtually all types of cancer can form metastases. The most common sites for metastatic cancers include the brain, bones, lungs and liver. Other areas include the adrenal gland, lymph nodes, skin and other organs.

While defining the unique properties of metastatic cancer cells, Hurst explains that he hopes to provide a conceptual framework for accelerating the discovery of treatment strategies.

In the review, the author stated that their attempts to identify the first principles underlying the metastatic process would hopefully simplify the processes essential to the development of all metastases.

The four features of metastasis identified by Hurst and Welch are:

1. Motility and invasion

2. Modulation of the microenvironment

3. Plasticity

4. Ability to colonize

According to the authors of the study, heterogeneities between tumor cells complicated the definition of metastatic features and the myriad interactions with other molecules and cells during the process.

Hurst and Welch said they hoped that the refinement of definitions and the gathering of diverse data would identify the vulnerabilities that metastatic researchers might exploit in an attempt to treat cancer metastasis.

Dr. Hurst also explained that it was difficult to understand the metastases because he was also a research badociate at the UAR's Comprehensive Cancer Center of UAB. The Hurst lab was funded by grants from the American Cancer Society, METAvivor Research and Support, Inc., the Elsa U. Pardee Foundation, and the Department of Pathology. He said that metastasis is a very complex pathological process. Increased specificity in the definition of the underlying principles is essential to better understand and interpret the literature in order to progress in the development of therapeutic interventions.