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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Doctors know cancer can spread from one organ in the body to another. But how and why are still open questions.
New research out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is shedding some light on the issue. Working off a century-old idea suggesting the spread of cancer is about both the "seed and the soil" -- in other words, the tumor and the environment to which it spreads -- they have tagged a cell called a fibrocyte as a potential player in the process.
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Fibrocytes are cells that travel throughout the body, mainly to help out when an injury occurs. But the changes they foster can also help cancer cells grow, and the researchers believe fibrocytes may be helping to set up premetastatic niches in distance organs where cancer cells can come and flourish.
Studies in mice, for example, showed injection of fibrocytes spurred the production of an enzyme known as MMP9 that's been implicated in promoting cancer. The good news is, drugs are already available to block MMP, suggesting the possibility for new treatments.
While noting much more work remains to be done to flesh out the role of fibrocytes in the spread of cancer, the authors hold out hope that the cells may be a good target for treatment. "This paper gives us a place to start looking for the answers," study author Dr. Hendrik van Deventer was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: The American Journal of Pathology, published online July 30, 2008
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