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Metastasis

An illustration of improved delivery of anti-cancer drugs to malignancies in the brain. On the left half, focused ultrasound agitates microbubbles, which breach the blood-brain barrier, allowing drug molecules to get through. The forces also stir interstitial fluid to circulate the drug, and they also encourage the drug to cross cell membranes more easily into tumor cells. Credit: Massachusetts General Hospital / Georgia Tech / Arvanitis / Askoxylakis
Buzzing Cancer Drugs into Malignancies in the Brain

As a new anti-cancer drug delivery method heads into phase I clinical trials, researchers explore the tissue-level mechanisms that make it work.
Pictured are MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, stably transformed with SNAIL (right) or an empty vector control (left). Cells expressing SNAIL show an increased mesenchymal phenotype and malignant characteristics. The control cells display a cobblestone morphology, whereas cells overexpressing SNAIL are more elongated. Credit: MgGrail, et al., FASEB 2014.
Study shows how breast cancer cells break free to spread in the body

A new study has identified how one important gene helps cancer cells break free from the primary tumor.