According to a story from EurekAlert! a cell culture platform developed by scientists associated with Hokkaido University will allow researchers to record and observe the natural behaviors of cancer cells. The platform works by offering attachment sites for the tumor cells. These sites cause a variety of behaviors and reactions from the cells. Meanwhile, scientists can learn more about how cancer cell activity results in the clinical characteristics of different types of cancer.
A New Type of Cancer Research
Scientists have already used the new technology to observe the activity of pancreatic cancer tumor cells. The data gathered from this observation has helped reveal the mechanisms behind many aspects of pancreatic cancer that have revealed themselves in the clinical setting. Hopefully, this new information will useful for identifying potential treatment approaches, as pancreatic cancer is highly dangerous and does not have many effective treatment options.
All Natural
The big benefit of this platform is the fact that it allows scientists to see natural tumor cell activity. In the past, the observation of cancer cells was useful, but was significantly limited in a couple of ways. Many cell cultures commonly used to look at cancer cells simply did not allow or encourage the cells to actually behave in a natural fashion, meaning that it was more difficult to apply the information gathered from observation into the clinical setting. Tumor cells could also be looked at with tissue samples, and while this approach can also allow scientists to determine some important characteristics of these cells, the cells are not alive in the sample, so their activity was still not visible.
Revelations
The observations of pancreatic cancer cells have so far been remarkable. When introduced to the platform, the cells tended to congregate into so-called “micro tumors.” Remarkably, these tumors were able to move about on their own. The scientists also introduced the cancer drug Nocodazole to these tumors, which caused them to disintegrate; however, the cells did not die. The micro tumors would also absorb nearby dead tumor cells, which resulted in the release of compounds typical of dying cells. These markers then appeared on the surface of the tumor. This may allow the tumor to evade attacks from the immune system.
Researchers hope that this platform will allow for more effective cancer research to be conducted than ever before.
