A group of scientists at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center has revealed a new genetic code that acts like a cancer ringleader, recruiting and deploying a gang of tumor cells to incite a biological turf war by invading healthy organs and overpowering the normal cells.
This discovery— published today, Dec. 9, in Nature Biotechnology —could unveil an entirely different understanding of the origins of cancer within the body, as well as offer insight into new treatment strategies that could target the growth of tumors in their earliest stages.
The study authors have also developed an intravenous therapy that empowers healthy cells to mount an immune response and build up a defensive resistance against these invading tumor cells. This treatment has already been proven effective in ovarian tumors, but the implications of this research could be universal to all cancer types.
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