Understanding How Cancer Cells and Early Embryos Are Similar
03 03 2025
Category: Main page, Research highlights, Science news
An international team of cancer researchers from Poland and Italy, led by Dr. Jeff Palatini from Genomics Core Facility at CeNT and Dr. Stefano Volinia (CNBCh, University of Warsaw) is focused on better understanding cancer cells, how they survive in the blood and how they contribute to cancer spread.
The team recently published a fascinating new study in the journal Cancer Communications. The findings are exciting because they demonstrate for the first time that the behavior of cancer cells, in fact, mimic early embryonic development. Certain features of cancer cell behavior—such as how they spread or invade other tissues—are connected to the processes that allow embryos to develop in the early stages. With the discovery of these shared RNA patterns, scientists will be able to develop new treatments that prevent cancer cells from spreading by targeting the same pathways that are active in early embryonic development.
In addition to helping us understand cancer better, this research opens the door to new ways to detect and treat metastasis. By identifying these unique RNA modules, oncologists could potentially use them to track cancer progression or even develop therapies that stop circulating tumor cells from spreading. Ultimately, this research brings us closer to unraveling the complex behavior of cancer cells and will help lead to better outcomes for patients with metastatic cancer.
Link to the study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cac2.12664