Stanford Breast Cancer Research Shows Pervasive Cell Spread

PALO ALTO, CA -- Scientists have long known about cancer cells breaking free, but new research out of Stanford University has discovered how they can push out of breast tissue to invade other places as tumors.

The hope is the work can point to new ways of preventing cancers from spreading, the Stanford News Service reported this month. The research was funded by the American Cancer Society , the National Institutes for Health and the National Cancer Institute.

The findings published in Nature Communications may also apply to prostate, liver, skin and many other cancers that have cells embed in the thin outer layer of bodily organs called the epithelium, the News Service added.

"Showing how cells can physically invade the basement membrane suggests new therapeutic strategies for blocking invasion," said Ovijit Cahdhuri, the assistant professor of mechanical engineering who led the study.

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