Scientists have discovered a new molecule which they say can prevent the spread of cancerous cells.
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College report in the online edition of the journal Nature that new anti-cancer agents break down the looping gait these cells use to migrate, stopping them in their tracks.
Mice implanted with cancer cells and treated with the small molecule macroketone lived a full life without any cancer spread, compared with control animals, which all died of metastasis.
When macroketone was given a week after cancer cells were introduced, it still blocked greater than 80 percent of cancer metastasis in mice.
These findings provide a very encouraging direction for development of a new class of anti-cancer agents that specifically stop cancer metastasis.
Dr Huang and his research team have been working on macroketone since 2003. Their work started after researchers in Japan isolated a natural substance, dubbed migrastatin, secreted by Streptomyces bacteria, that is the basis of many antibiotic drugs. The Japanese researchers noted that migrastatin had a weak inhibitory effect on tumor cell migration.
“More than 90 percent of cancer patients die because their cancer has spread, so we desperately need a way to stop this metastasis,” Dr. Huang says. “This study offers a paradigm shift in thinking and, potentially, a new direction in treatment.”
“After a lot of modifications, we made several versions that were a thousand-fold more potent than the original,” Dr Huang says. In 2005, they published a study showing that several of the new versions, including macroketone, stopped cancer cell metastasis in laboratory animals, but they didn’t know how the agent worked.
In the current study, the researchers revealed the mechanism. They found that macroketone targets an actin cytoskeletal protein known as fascin that is critical to cell movement. In order for a cancer cell to leave a primary tumor, fascin bundles actin filaments together like a thick finger. The front edge of this finger creeps forward and pulls along the rear of the cell. Cells crawl away in the same way that an inchworm moves.
Macroketone latches on to individual fascin, preventing the actin fibers from adhering to each other and forming the pushing leading edge, Dr. Huang says. Because individual actin fibers are too soft when they are not bundled together, the cell cannot move.
to read more on this please go to : Wiell Cornell Medical

Prevention is the most effective way to control the deadly disease. Research suggests that only five percent of cancers are hereditary. That means the non-inherited causes of cancer — the lifestyle choices we make, the foods we eat, and our physical activity levels — have a direct impact on our overall cancer risk. In 2009, about one-third of total cancer deaths were caused by tobacco smoking and about one-third of the total cancer deaths were related to overweight or obesity, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition. All these deaths could be prevented. Liver and cervical cancers are related to infectious agents and could be prevented through behavioral changes and vaccines. In addition, about 1 million skin tumors diagnosed in 2009 could be prevented by limiting exposure from the sun and from indoor tanning.

The American Cancer Society reports that half of all men and one-third of all women will develop cancer in their lifetimes. Do what you can to avoid becoming a part of these statistics. Take steps to reduce your risk for cancer now!

Click below to learn more about these preventable cancers:
Breast
Cervical
Colorectal
Lung
Oral
Prostate
Skin
Testicular

Each year, the President proclaims April as “Cancer Control Month” in order to highlight advances against cancer and rededicate the nation to fighting this disease. Despite this progress, cancer continues to kill more Americans than any other malady but heart disease. One of the best ways to recommit to the battle against cancer is to emphasize the funding of medical research.

SU2C’s (Stand up to Cancer) unique funding model, developed with the help of prominent cancer researchers who know the traditional system of funding inside and out, encourages collaboration and innovation via two new types of scientific grants.
1. Dream Team grants are awarded to multi-institutional, collaborative groups of scientists working together instead of in competition with one another to bring cutting-edge translational research to the patients who need it most in an accelerated timeframe.
To learn more about SU2C’s first five Dream Teams, click here.
2. Innovative Research Grants foster cutting-edge cancer research with strong potential to impact patient care within a short timeframe – projects that are high-risk but could also be high-impact.
To learn more about the first recipients of SU2C’s Innovative Research Grants, click here.