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Implants traps cancer cells
American scientists from the University of Michigan developed small sponge-like implants that can mop up cancer cells as they move through the body. Circulating cells detach from the primary tumor and can be collected in other places of the body, forming metastases. Therefore, cancer that initially appeared in one organ can spread to another one even after successful treatment, the Mednovosti portal reports.
American scientists from the University of Michigan developed small sponge-like implants that can mop up cancer cells as they move through the body. Circulating cells detach from the primary tumor and can be collected in other places of the body, forming metastases. Therefore, cancer that initially appeared in one organ can spread to another one even after successful treatment, the Mednovosti portal reports.
The way the implants work is as follows: immune cells set up camp on the implant - a natural reaction to any foreign body. They, in turn, are drawing in the circulating cancer cells, which tend to gather in lymphocytes gathering areas. This chain of reactions allows one to track the processes of metastasis that often lead to death of cancer patients. The implants have round shape with diameter about 5 mm and are made of a biomaterial already approved for use in medical devices.
So far, the implants are tested in mice with breast cancer. Sponges were implanted into the layer of subcutaneous fat in the abdomen, or under the skin. In the experiments with labeled tumor cells, it was shown that the implants sucked up cancer cells that had started to circulate in the body.
Moreover, it was found that in mice with implants the number of tumor cells throughout the body is in general smaller. Scientists plan to conduct clinical trials soon. Implants can be an important means of combating metastasis in humans. In the meantime, researchers will focus on the issue whether the implants change the overall outcome of cancer in mice.
Original text http://medportal.ru/mednovosti/news/2015/09/10/825implants/
