Unlocked Key Mechanism Behind Breast Cancer Metastases

Portuguese scientists identified a new molecular mechanism that allows the spread of breast cancer from the original site of the tumour to other remote parts of the body (form metastases). Abnormally high levels of P-cadherin – an adhesion molecule that enables cells to bind together – occur in about a third of all breast cancers and are associated with poor prognosis. Ribeiro and colleagues, writing in the journal Oncogene1, found that the reason why these cancers are more aggressive is because excessive P-cadherin changes the cancer cells’ internal organization, making them mobile and invasive (invasiveness is the capacity to cross biological barriers such as membranes). read more

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