Silver Bullet for Cancer Metastasis Found by Princeton Researchers: Disables Gene in Human and Mice Tissue

Cancer has been a long mystery for scientists around the globe. Why it occurs and how it spreads via metastasis has been a very difficult enemy for doctors and researchers to keep at bay.

Luckily, a team of Princeton University researchers that have been working on unraveling the mysteries for over 15 years, focusing on a single gene central to most major cancers' ability to metastasize, have just had a breakthrough. The newly discovered compound, a silver bullet to cancer, has been found to disable genes in both mice and human tissue, with clinical trials possibly on their way.

What is Metastasis, and How Does it Develop?

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According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Metastasis means that cancer cells have spread to various parts of the body. It commonly develops when cancer cells break from the main tumor and enter a person's bloodstream or lymphatic system. These systems then carry fluids to different parts of the body. This means that the cancer cells traveling through them can form new tumors where they settle and grow away from the main tumor.

Sometimes metastases can also occur when cancer cells form main tumors found in the belly or abdominal cavity break off and travel to nearby areas such as the bones, liver, or lungs. Any form of cancer has the same risks of metastasis; this depends on several factors such as the type of cancer diagnosed, how fast cancer grows, and other factors regarding cancer's behavior.

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Silver Bullet of Metastasis in Major Cancer Found by Researchers

Metastatic cancer has been the key focus of researchers because it is the primary cancer death cause. Although surgery and chemotherapy prove effective in eliminating the initial tumor, cells that have broken off can discreetly make their way to different parts of the body and give rise to new tumors.

Minhong Shen, team leader behind the discovery, explains that metastatic breast cancer has caused more than 40,000 deaths yearly in the US alone, saying that patients often do not respond to traditional treatments such as targeted therapies, chemotherapies, and immunotherapies. Their work also identified a series of chemical compounds that significantly enhance chemotherapy and immunotherapy response rates in mouse models engineered with breast cancer. Emphasizing that the compounds hold great therapeutic potential, reports NewAtlas.

In 2004, the team discovered a gene that implicated metastatic breast cancer known as metadherin or MTDH. Researchers showed that the gene was amplified and produced abnormally high levels around a third of breast cancer tumors and was key not just in metastasis but also in the tumor's resistance to chemotherapy.

In two subsequent studies published in the journal Nature Cancer, titled "Small-molecule inhibitors that disrupt the MTDH-SND1 complex suppress breast cancer progression and metastasis" and "Pharmacological disruption of the MTDH-SND1 complex enhances tumor antigen presentation and synergizes with anti-PD-1 therapy in metastatic breast cancer," The team was able to identify a compound that has proven to be effective against cancer especially when combined with both immunotherapy and chemotherapy.