May 13, 2013 — Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center report that cancers physically alter cells in the lymphatic system -- a network of vessels that transports and stores immune cells throughout the body -- to promote the spread of disease, a process called metastasis.
The findings are published in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Roughly 90 percent of all cancer deaths are due to metastasis -- the disease spreading from the original tumor site to multiple, distant tissues and finally overwhelming the patient's body. Lymph vessels are often the path of transmission, with circulating tumor cells lodging in the lymph nodes -- organs distributed throughout the body that act as immune system garrisons and traps for pathogens and foreign particles.
The researchers, led by principal investigator Judith A. Varner, PhD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, found that a protein growth factor expressed by tumors called VEGF-C activates a receptor called integrin
The findings are published in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Roughly 90 percent of all cancer deaths are due to metastasis -- the disease spreading from the original tumor site to multiple, distant tissues and finally overwhelming the patient's body. Lymph vessels are often the path of transmission, with circulating tumor cells lodging in the lymph nodes -- organs distributed throughout the body that act as immune system garrisons and traps for pathogens and foreign particles.
The researchers, led by principal investigator Judith A. Varner, PhD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, found that a protein growth factor expressed by tumors called VEGF-C activates a receptor called integrin