Random nature of metastasis revealed by physicists

Friday, July 18, 2014 - 15:31 in Health & Medicine

The spreading of a cancerous tumor from one part of the body to another may occur through pure chance instead of key genetic mutations, a new study has shown. Physicists have used a statistical model to show that the formation of a new secondary tumor -- commonly known as a metastasis -- could just as likely derive from "common" cancer cells that circulate in the bloodstream, as from "specialist" cancer cells.

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