Small Fish Reveal Big Clues About An Aggressive Cancer
Some tiny freshwater fish have been providing scientists new information on Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC), a rare and aggressive form of the disease characterized by rapid tumor progression.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have been studying zebrafish, a minnow-like fish commonly found in aquariums, to learn more about how malignant tumors spread inside living organisms.
Because the zebrafish’s skin is transparent and its genetic structure is similar to humans, scientists could view in real time how metastasis occurred inside blood vessels. Their examinations revealed that two proteins, VEGF and RhoC, interacted to promote angiogenesis and tumor migration.
To conduct the unusual investigation, a team of scientists led by Richard Klemke, PhD, injected color-coded IBC cells into immuno-suppressed fish. The process allowed the team to capture detailed 3-D images of the cancer’s progression while also giving them the opportunity to analyze the effect anti-cancer compounds had on IBC tumors.
If you’d like to learn more about UCSD’s study, their findings are published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source: UCSD Medical Center Newsroom
Related Links: abc news; SCIENCE CENTRIC
Related Video: Inflammatory Breast Cancer from WKRG.com
Tags: UCSD Moores Cancer Center; Konstantin Stoletov, PhD; intravasation; oncology; NIH funded; UCSD Department of Pathology
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