One of the most dreaded complications of lung cancer is metastasis. According to Mayo Clinic, the term means “the spread of cancer cells” from the lungs “to other parts of the body.”
You often hear this complication expressed with a verb. For example, Lung cancer often metastasizes “to other parts of the body, such as the brain and the bones”.
Cancer that spreads causes some ugly symptoms such as “pain, nausea, headaches, or other signs and symptoms depending on what organ is affected.”
It is typically believed that, “Once lung cancer has spread to other organs, it’s generally not curable.” However, more and more research is being done to unlock the mystery of how lung cancer can spread to other parts of the body in this way.
New Revelations about Metastasis in Lung Cancer:
In fact, some very recent studies have been published on metastasis at the University of Texas in the U.S. and at the University of York in England.
Research scientists at both Universities have uncovered a key component of cancer cells, “which acts like a “cellular post office.”
With deeper study of this component, we might be able to create new therapeutics to prevent the spread of lung cancer to other parts of the body.
Discovering the Mechanisms of Metastasis
In this week’s Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists’ blog, we take you into a sub-microscopic world.
In the latest research, scientists are learning what causes the cancer cell to “know” it can leap to another organ.
Unlocking the Mysteries of Lung Cancer Cells…
Cancer Language: A Code of Proteins
The new research points us to “a communication mechanism in the cancer cell. Known as the Golgi Apparatus, it can signal a cancer cell to alter its perimeter.”
In other words, the Golgi Apparatus can signal a cancer cell to leave its comfortable fixed shape where it is snugly attached to lung tissue– to transform into a less structured one, and journey to a new home.
Now we do not mean it communicates in a language. It signals chemically and microbiologically.
“The ‘post office’ of the cell, or the Golgi apparatus… has the ability to package proteins in order to transport them to other parts of the cell or to deliver them to areas outside of the cell.”
Cancer Cell Structure Comparison: A Common Camping Tent
Dr Daniel Ungar, from the University of York’s Department of Biology, spoke of this complex language of proteins in an interesting allegory.
1. He stated, “If we think of the cancer cell like a tent structure; it has fixed sides to hold its shape and is firmly anchored to the ground in order to secure its contents.”
2. Once we have imagined the cancer cell as if it is a tent, he continues, “It cannot conceivably be moved until its architecture is altered somehow.”
3. He continues with a comparison between a cancer cell and a camping tent in order to lead us to an understanding of the complex process of metastasis.
“In order to move the tent, we have to rearrange its contents and collapse its sides in order to lift it out of its anchored position and carry it away.”
Coming full circle, back to the cancer cell, Dr. Ungar explains, “A similar process happens with cancer when it metastasizes — its outer edges are altered resulting in it becoming un-anchored.”
Cancer Cell: Intracellular Communication
In more scientific language, the new research revealed that a protein called PAQR11, inside the “cellular post office,” receives a signal from another protein, called Zeb 1.
1. The communication between the two proteins prompts the transport of membrane sacks inside the Golgi.
2. Consequently, these sacks change their delivery routes. Thus, they alter the perimeter or walls of the cancer cells.
3. This makes it possible for the cancer cell to detach “from its fixed position in the lung and travel to other areas of the body.”
Stopping the Spread of Lung Cancer
Dr Ungar added: “Now that we recognize this system, there is the potential to develop a drug that interferes with this communication and prevents the Golgi apparatus from facilitating the movement of the membrane sacks.”
At this point, the scientists know what they are looking for in order to halt, or better yet destroy, the cancer cell.
They need a way to break the protein code, to target and interrupt the communication process from the Golgi apparatus.
However, they must find a way to do this that does not interrupt the “normal cellular functions of non-cancerous cells.” In other words, how can we interrupt the cellular behavior of the cancer of the cancer cell without bothering the natural functions of the healthy cells?
Research happens one step at a time, like a long journey.
Indeed, in the years to come, this tiny piece of research, publicized late in November of 2016, might be considered a break-through for a therapy which can stop cancer cells in their tracks.
If we can halt a cell before it metastasizes, we are one step closer to destroying it.
Thus, lung cancer research continues, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, and the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas.
For more interesting and thought-provoking, information about this significant research, deep readers can check out a detailed report in this month’s Journal of Clinical Investigation.