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Researchers in Belgium determine why certain cancers evolve badly

Xinhua, November 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

In what is being considered a major step forward in cancer research, researchers in Belgium have determined why certain cancers evolve badly and produce metastases while others evolve well, Belgian media reported on Friday.

They studied how the cancer cell controls invasion properties and the metastatic potential of tumor cells.

Researchers in the team of Free University of Brussels Prof. Cedric Blanpain, Welbio, and the Interdisciplinary Research Institute (IRIBHM), have published their findings in the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell.

"This study demonstrates for the first time that the invasive and metastatic character of cancers is dictated by their cellular origin and discovers the underlying molecular mechanism," said Blanpain.

Some cancers have a good prognosis while others bad, and the reason for this difference was not yet well understood.

Tumor heterogeneity defines the differences that exist between tumors of different patients but also between tumor cells within the same tumor.

These differences have major implications for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of patients with cancer. Enditem