Reading time: 4 minutes Megan Majocha Can you imagine trying to put together clear, acrylic puzzle pieces? It is difficult to put together all the unknowns without a picture. Metastasis research is similar - trying to put the pieces together without knowing exactly how metastatic cells function in the human body. While cancer metastasis research... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Patty Spears Patients need more treatment options for metastatic breast cancer (MBC). MBC is when the cancer has spread from the breast to other parts of the body. Most patients with MBC stay on continuous treatment. This means that even those who live longer accumulate many toxicities (treatment costs and... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Megan Majocha Breast cancer is the most common cancer and it is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States1. Women with breast cancer have a 5-year survival rate of 99% if the tumor remains localized in the breast, but survival drops to 30% if women... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Emily Chan During a holiday weekend, I had the chance to see one of the most beloved animals at my local zoo: the koala. Contrary to their adorable exterior, koalas boast strong arms and legs that hook around tree branches, allowing them to scale large eucalyptus trees. Recently, researchers at Institut... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Emily Chan With Halloween soon approaching, children and adults everywhere are preparing to disguise themselves in costumes to transform into someone or something else. Unlike the disguises we wear once a year, cells can make continuous strides to transform into malignant cells that metastasize to other areas of the body. Cancer... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 3 minutes Ifeoluwa Oyelade One of the most impactful breakthroughs in cancer research would be to completely eradicate all cancer cells in the body upon treatment, thereby preventing possible cases of cancer relapse. However, the ability of tumor cells to move out of their primary sites to reside in different organs in the... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Suchitra Mitra Majority of cancer associated deaths occur from metastasis, when cells from the primary tumor migrate to a distant site within the body. The migration of cancer cells usually occurs via three routes — direct invasion of surrounding tissues, the circulatory system (ie, blood), and the lymphatic system. Recent developments... Continue Reading →
Darshak Bhatt Reading time: 4 minutes Migration is tough! The International committee for the Red Cross states that “… on their journey, migrants face multiple risks and high degree of vulnerability”, and adds “Thousands (of migrants) die or disappear along the way every year.” Similarly, a cancer cell faces challenges related to migration and the... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Chris Wang Like Keanu Reeves dodging bullets within The Matrix, cancer cells can dodge even carefully designed anti-cancer agents. Scientists strive to design “silver bullets,” ones which target cancer cells while sparing healthy normal cells. This "silver bullet" approach is appealing to researchers due to the promise of improved therapeutic response... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 3 minutes Michael Marand You may be familiar with the handy ‘Find My iPhone’ feature that comes with Apple cell phones. This feature uses radio waves from cell towers to direct you precisely to the spot where you dropped your device. Following similar principles, physicians can use imaging techniques to obtain signals from... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Keighley Reisenauer Google “EMT,” and you’re likely to see images of paramedics and ambulances. However, there is another EMT that plays a much different role in disease and illness. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is normally associated with processes such as wound healing and development. Cancer hijacks EMT to participate in... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Shaye Hagler For those of you whose lives have been impacted by cancer, you might have heard of the term “metastasis.” We call cancer metastatic when it breaks off from the initial tumor and travels to other organs. You might also have heard it being referred to before as “stage 4... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 3 minutes Sara Musetti One of the realities of cancer is that the primary tumor is rarely the cause of issues; usually, mortality and complications come from tumor cells spreading throughout the body and forming new tumors, a process called metastasis. For most cancers, the primary tumor can be surgically removed, but once... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 3 minutes Manisit Das Previously at Oncobites, we discussed how small particles such as nanoparticles could be used for delivering drugs against cancer. The nanoparticles can carry the drugs to the tumor taking advantage of the leakiness of blood vessels running through the tumor. The leaky vessels allow the drug-carrying nanoparticles to enter... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Rachel Cherney Patients with metastatic cancer usually have a lower survival rate than patients without metastatic cancer, so it is important to understand how metastatis occurs, so we can learn how to improve patient survivability. Metastatic cancer makes up about 90% of cancer deaths. Cancer metastasis occurs when tumor cells break... Continue Reading →
Emily B. Harrison, Ph.D. Every year more than one million women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Tumors are most often discovered through screening techniques like self-checks, breast exams, or mammograms. Immediately, plans are made to extract the tumor either by removing a small area around the tumor, a lumpectomy, or the entire breast in a... Continue Reading →
Emily B. Harrison, PhD Perhaps the only time most people consider their lymph nodes is at a doctor’s office. Often, when examining you, a physician will touch the sides of your neck, feeling for enlarged lymph nodes. In this case, swollen nodes indicate that your body is mounting an immune response. This immune response is... Continue Reading →
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