Breast cancer poses a serious threat to women around the globe. Breast cancer is a threat to millions of women around the world. According to World Health Organisation there are approximately 1.38 million new cases each year and 458 000 deaths. in fact, is the most common type of cancer among women. It is important to detect the disease early in order to have a good prognosis. This can help prevent many deaths. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, it’s important to remember that if cancer isn’t detected early, curative treatment may not be an option. The behavior of cancer cells is important.
Researchers at Purdue University, in the US, have developed a new testing platform that evaluates how breast cancer cells react to the repeated stretching of the lungs when breathing. The technology was developed to better understand how metastatic breast cancer is affected by the local tissue.
The survival rate drops by 70% if the cells metastasize
Researchers say that one of the most important features of breast cancer, is the fact that the majority of patients will survive if their disease is localized, but the survival rate drops by more than 70% if cells have spread. Once the cells have left the primary tumour they often become resistant to the drugs which initially worked.
Researchers were looking for a way to better understand the impact of the physiology on tumour cells when they invaded a new organ. Researchers created a magnetically-moving cell culturing device where cancer cells could be grown in 3D onto a protein suspended in extracellular matrix that is common in early metastatic lungs tissue to evaluate the effect of mechanical forces. In this tissue model, they were able incorporate the strain amplitude as well as breathing rate. Researchers found that cells stopped dividing in these conditions.
Healthy Organs Use Motion to Resist Metastatic Colonization
The concept of motion has never been examined as an element of the tumour microenvironment. Researchers claim that they understand now that healthy organs use motion to resist colonization by metastatic cells. This microactuator system is not only going to increase our biological understanding of metastasis but will also allow us to evaluate the most deadly aspect of cancer progression.
Researchers claim that this is the first time a cell-culture system has been engineered to apply mechanical forces to a tissue suspended in suspension. This system mimics the physiological environments without artificial substrates. They show, using this platform that breathing cycles slow down the proliferation of certain cancer cells.
