The way a tumor takes over healthy tissue is similar to the way a placenta invades the uterus. According to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, researchers have identified genes that may be useful in the development of drugs to fight cancer.
The amount of a woman's body parts varies across species. Human and apes have placenta cells that push deep into the uterus. The uterus has evolved to resist intrusions more strongly in animals.
The cellular resistance extends beyond the uterus, according to biologists from Yale University and the University of Connecticut Health. They found that the rate of tumors that spread beyond the primary site of the species' body was related to how deep the placenta embedded. Cells connecting tissues and organs in species with embedded placentas were less resistant to invasion by tumors. Why was the question asked.
The nine mammal species examined for the new study had differences in the production of their genes. The team was able to identify two genes that made tissues more susceptible to cellular intrusion. Cells were able to block invasion when the genes were removed.
The biology of cancer in the skin, for example, could be affected by a genetic change that helps the uterus keep the placenta out.
The finding suggests new ways to target the growth and spread of tumors. He says the study is hard-core and comparative. It would be nice to use that line of pharmacological thinking for the treatment of cancer.
Amy Boddy, a comparative oncologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, cautions that this specific invasion process probably doesn't tell the whole story. There are many causes and contributors to cancer. Everything that is multicellular is at risk of cancer. We're just starting to look at the potential mechanisms.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
