A new study has turned up a new target in efforts to tackle metastatic cancers, the primary cause of death from the disease, by unearthing a protein that prevents cells from migrating to other parts of the body by sticking them to surrounding tissue.
When tumors spread, cancer cells migrate to other parts of the body through the blood or lymphatic vessels. Scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria have now found a new protein that prevents cancer cells from doing so by making them stick more tightly to their surroundings.