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Major cancer breakthrough as study shows oxygen can stop tumours spreading
The spread of cancer could be stopped – with injections of oxygen, according to new research.
The trigger for the disease spreading is when the gas is cut off – a discovery that opens the door to better treatments.
Experiments on mice with breast tumours found they lived longer after the oxygen supply was increased.
It sheds fresh light on ‘metastasis’ or the spread of the disease, in which cells break off from the original site and migrate through the body. The process dramatically reduces chances of recovery – and has baffled experts for decades.
Preventing it is the ‘holy grail’ of research – turning cancer from a killer to a chronic illness.
Little was known about why these clusters of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) leave in the first place. Lack of oxygen has now been identified as the trigger. It offers hope of improved strategies, said lead author Professor Nicola Aceto.
This may include boosting the formation of blood vessels – which would carry more oxygen in. The technique, called proangiogenic therapy, worked in the rodents.
She likened it to people in a packed bar or club struggling for breath – and going outside to breathe in fresh air.
Her team analysed the amount of oxygen inside the animals’ human-like tumours, the detachment of CTCs and their molecular and cell biological properties.
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