Author: Kevin Dickinson / Source: Big Think
- Researchers recently discovered a drug combination that turned cancer cells into fat cells, preventing its proliferation.
- The drug therapy could be used to halt metastasis, the leading cause of death from cancer.
It may be a family member, a friend, a coworker, or even yourself, but chances are breast cancer will invade your life at some point. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 242,476 new cases of female breast cancer were reported in 2015 alone.
The disease took the lives of 41,523 women that same year. This makes breast cancer the most commonly diagnosed cancer, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American women.Worldwide, cancers represent the second leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease. Yet despite these disheartening numbers, we are making progress in developing effective treatments against this deadly affliction.
Scientists may have given us another tool to further this progress. They’ve developed a new drug therapy that prevents malignant cancer growth. How? By turning cancer cells into fat.
The good kind of fat
Low magnification micrograph of a metastatic tumor [left side] in the ovary. This tumor metastasized from a tumor in the woman’s breast. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Metastasis is the leading cause of death from cancer, occurring when cancer cells separate from the original tumor to proliferate elsewhere. These new cancer cells travel through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Since these bodily systems are thoroughly connected, cancer can spread to a variety of locations. Breast cancer, for example, “tends to spread to the bones, liver, lungs, chest wall, and brain.”
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