Scientists at the University of Basel in Switzerland have come to the conclusion that the cause of the formation of metastases is a lack of oxygen in the tissues. The results of the scientific work, which reveals a new way to prevent the development of fatal stages of cancer, are published in the journal Cell Reports.
The researchers studied the oxygen supply to malignant breast tumor tissues transplanted into mice, and also observed the formation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) – cells that break away from the primary focus and migrate to new tissues through the bloodstream.
It turned out that different areas of the tumor are supplied with oxygen in different ways. Hypoxia was observed, as a rule, where there were fewer blood vessels: in the nucleus and in well-defined peripheral parts. Where CSCs accumulated, there was also an oxygen deficiency. Scientists explained this by the fact that hypoxia causes cancer cells to leave the tumor and penetrate into tissues richer in oxygen.
In addition, the CTCs formed due to hypoxia metastasized faster and shortened the survival time of mice. To reduce the risk of secondary tumor formation, the researchers suggest stimulating the formation of new blood vessels. The results of experiments on rodents showed that the number of CTC clusters decreased, the mice developed fewer metastases and they lived longer, but the primary tumor increased in size.
The scientists hope their research will help develop new clinical approaches to prevent metastases.
