Scientists from Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) have demonstrated the movement of metastatic cancer cells, a breakthrough in cancer research.
The research work was conducted by IIT-G director Gautam Biswas with his colleagues Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh of biosciences & bioengineering and Amaresh Dalal from mechanical engineering departments respectively and assisted by PhD students Binita Nath and Asif Raza.
The study was carried out in a constricted micro-channel to show movement of cancer cells in viable state, reports TOI.
The research work clearly showed how cancer cells can deform, survive and pass through micro capillaries in the human body.
Multi-cellular aggregates of cancer cells are the initiators of distant organ metastasis and cause spread of cancer in the body.
It was assumed in the past that cancer cells are too large to pass through narrow vessels such as pulmonary capillaries to reach other organs.
The findings of the research work been endorsed in the prestigious Scientific Journal, an online, open-access journal that publishes scientifically valid primary research from all areas of the natural and clinical sciences.
The research work is expected to be helpful for oncologists in devising new methods of cancer treatment.