By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    stress disorder
    5 Ways To Manage Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
    October 27, 2021
    Medical device classification and development strategies
    Medical device classification and development strategies
    April 5, 2023
    varicose veins
    Varicose Veins Prevention: 3 Lifestyle Changes to Make Right Now
    May 1, 2022
    Latest News
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    How People Are Taking Advantage of Health Deals in the Recent Recession
    February 5, 2021
    Florida Board of Medicine Declares Arizona Homeopathic Doctor “Very, Very Dangerous”
    October 29, 2018
    6 Ways to Make Sure You’re Detoxing Properly
    July 26, 2018
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How Cancer Kills
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Specialties > How Cancer Kills
Specialties

How Cancer Kills

Dov Michaeli
Dov Michaeli
Share
6 Min Read
Cancer cells
SHARE

Cancer cellsI’m going to let you in on an open secret: most cancer victims don’t die of their primary tumor. They are killed by metastases to distant organs. Fair enough; but what is so important about that? Well, think of it: if we could inhibit the proliferation of metastatic cells, we could make cancer a chronic disease, if not outright curable.

Cancer cellsI’m going to let you in on an open secret: most cancer victims don’t die of their primary tumor. They are killed by metastases to distant organs. Fair enough; but what is so important about that? Well, think of it: if we could inhibit the proliferation of metastatic cells, we could make cancer a chronic disease, if not outright curable. No wonder there is an enormous research effort to understand the biology of metastasis. But the beast does not give up its secrets easily, and without a deep understanding of what’s going on there we won’t be able to vanquish it. A recent publication in Nature Cell Biology ( vol. 15, 807-17, 2013) by Ghajar and his colleagues is a major step forward in solving the puzzle.

As far back as 1986, a Harvard pathologist, Harold Dvorak, published an intriguing paper in the New England Journal of Medicine (vol 25, 1650-1659, 1986) titled “Tumors: wounds that do not heal”. The gist of the paper was the observation that in order for a wound to heal properly it needs a rich blood supply. The blood vessels are attracted to the wound site by factors secreted by inflammatory cells, exactly the same as in tumors. The difference is that in a malignancy tumor cells also secrete those factors, known as angiogenic factors. Another difference: when a wound is healed, secretion of angiogenic factors comes to an end. Not so in tumors; angiogenesis continues unabated. Dvorak also identified a protein that was responsible for this angiogenic factor, which he called vascular permeability factor, or VPF. Years later, a seemingly different protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF was shown to have similar angiogenic activity. Well, the two proteins turned out to be one and the same. Shortly thereafter, bevacizumab, aka Avastin, an inhibitor of VEGF, was developed and is now incorporated into the treatment of a long roster of cancers.

Problem solved? Not so fast. If VEGF was the only factor responsible for metastatic tumor formation, we would expect Avastin to permanently arrest its development. Yet, we know that metastatic cells can stay dormant for months or even years before they pop up on MRI or PET scans as fully grown tumors, even in the presence of Avastin. What kept them dormant? And why did they spring into action?

More Read

How Are Traumatic Brain Injuries Treated?
Many Deaths from Heart Disease, Stroke Are Avoidable
Fall Prevention: How To Keep An Elderly Parent Safe In Their Home
4 Tips For Conquering Insomnia During Addiction Recovery
Is it Time to Get My Wisdom Teeth Out?

This is where the paper I mentioned at the top comes in. The investigators studied human breast cancer cells, and using both a mouse model and an in vitro model, showed that dormant disseminated tumor cells are not resting just anywhere; they sit on the endothelial cells of the lung, bone marrow and brain-organs that breast cancer metastasizes to. This perivascular location is responsible for maintaing their dormant state; the endothelial cells secrete a protein, thrombospondin-1, or TSP-1, which suppresses the tumor cells’ growth. So how do the tumor cells escape the dormant state? Turns out that this suppressive environment is present only around the stable and mature vasculature. But around the growing tips of the vessel there is a growth-promoting environment, mediated by the proteins periostin, tenascin-C, fibronectin, and tumor growth factor β 1.

Going back to Dvorak’s remarkable insight, in a normal healing wound there are no tumor cells sitting on the endothelial surface; angiogenesis proceeds to completion, and the wound is healed -end of story. But if there is any tissue damage, however minor, and there are dormant tumor cells slumbering on the endothelial cells, the formation of a growing tip of of a new vessel will cause the tumor cells to spring into action and proliferate. Result: a new met.

The importance of the paper by Ghajar et al does not stop with the detailed understanding of the vessel/tumor interaction. It identified the protein signals that control this interaction. And that opens the door to a rich trove of potential targets for therapy. TSP-1, the protein that keeps the tumor cells in dormancy, could be a target for augmentation. The factors at the tip of a growing vessel could be targets for inhibition.

Every time science makes such a fundamental advance we are tempted to fall into polyannish reverie. Is “the cure” at hand? most likely not; biology likes to dole out its secrets sparingly. But no doubt, this contribution is of major importance, and advances in therapy are certain to follow.

(cancer cells / shutterstock)

TAGGED:cancer
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025
a woman giving a key
How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
Health
July 16, 2025
a woman with kinesio tapes on her back arm
How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

Specialties

Mesothelioma Awareness Day: How Clinical Trials Make A Difference

September 25, 2018
SpecialtiesWellness

What Is The Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Test And Why Do You Need It?

August 23, 2018
BusinessHospital AdministrationNewsPublic HealthRadiology

Can Spiral CT Scans Detect Curable Lung Cancer? But Wait, There’s More!

January 2, 2012
PregnancySpecialties

Are You Healthy Enough to be a Surrogate?

August 28, 2019
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?