Oct. 11, 2012 In recent years investigators have discovered that
breast tumors are influenced by more than just the cancer cells
within them. A variety of noncancerous cells, which in many
cases constitute the majority of the tumor mass, form what is
known as the "tumor microenvironment." This sea of noncancerous
cells and the products they deposit appear to play key roles in
tumor pathogenesis. Among the key accomplices in the tumor
microenvironment are mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a group of
adult progenitor cells which have been shown to help breast
cancers maneuver and spread to other parts of the body. Now, new
research sheds further light on how this is happening. Led by
investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC),
the findings demonstrate that the lysyl oxidase (LOX) gene is
spurred to production in cancer cells as a result of their
contact with MSCs, and once produced, can help ensure the spread
of otherwise weakly metastatic cancer cells from primary tumors
to the lung and bones.