A new discovery in Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive and often fatal childhood cancer, has uncovered the potential to prevent cancer cells from spreading beyond their primary tumour site.
The breakthrough provides new insight into what triggers the process that allows cancer cells to survive while traveling through the body in the bloodstream.
Researchers with the University of British Columbia and BC Cancer have learned that Ewing sarcoma cells — and likely other types of cancer cells — are able to develop a shield that protects them from the harsh environment of the bloodstream and other locations as they search for a new place to settle, or metastasize. The study has just been published in Cancer Discovery.
