Head and Neck Cancer Cells Hijack Nearby Healthy Tissue

University of Michigan School of Dentistry scientists have identified a mechanism by which head and neck cancer cells subvert adjacent normal tissue, allowing small clusters of cancer cells to burrow beneath the healthy tissue, according to Michigan News.

The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, could lead to new therapeutics that target proteins in cancer cells that regulate DMBT1, a gene that is silenced during oral cancer. Researchers found that when DMBT1 was suppressed in head and neck cancer cells, it promoted aggressive invasion and metastasis in laboratory studies, and was also associated with metastasis in patients. The team also found that two proteins secreted by head and neck cancer cells suppress DMBT1 in nearby ​healthy tissue. Read more here.