Find out which cells 'lock' cancer right in the human bone

A bizarre change of bone cell function has just been identified by US scientists, the prospect of creating a new method of locking metastatic cancer.

A bizarre change of bone cell function has just been identified by US scientists, the prospect of creating a new method of locking metastatic cancer . The work has just been published in the scientific journal Breast Cancer Research, led by Dr. Karen Bussard, assistant professor of cancer biology at Thomas Jefferson University and Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center - Jefferson Health. She and her colleagues discovered bone cells in the human body who behaved strangely when their owners had breast cancer.

The "strange phenomenon" from a person who had had breast cancer several decades ago brought scientists to unexpected discovery - (artwork from the internet).

The study stems from the fact that scientists who have received many breast cancer patients have to return 20 to 30 years after being cured because of a recurrence, this time their cancer invades their bones. The doctor was confused because they obviously had bone metastases. This may be normal if metastasis occurs when they are still ill, but it seems ridiculous because it only happens 20-30 years after they are determined to be completely cured, no longer a patient. cancer.

In addition, the researchers found that in patients with advanced breast cancer, osteoblasts suddenly stopped working, resulting in decreased bone density because osteoblasts were the core factor in Bone formation, growth and repair of human skeleton.

In this study, scientists found that osteoblasts were not lazy when breast cancer patients: they stopped working, simply because they moved to take on another responsibility.

In mouse studies, osteoblasts have changed from builders to warriors. When an intruder attacks the bone, the osteoblasts release elements that change the cancer cells. These factors cause cancer cells to contaminate, and restore the body's production of p21 protein, a substance that controls cell cycle and prevents breast cancer cells from replicating endlessly.

The process seems to cause cancer cells to "hibernate" in their bones. In humans, they can sleep up to 30 years, a time of too much mystery for this deadly disease.

Experts in the field expressed their joy at the study because the discovery of this mechanism could be a premise to develop new methods to "lock" metastatic cancer. Dr Bussard said she and her colleagues will continue to deepen research, describing the molecules that bone cells are amazing to use, hoping to find a way to help cancer cells. sleep forever.