Scientists have discovered that non-cancer cells that wrap around blood vessels – called ‘pericytes’ – are helping breast cancer cells enter the bloodstream and spread around the body through the production of a key molecule called endosialin.

Using a combination of studies in mice, cells grown in the lab and samples donated by breast cancer patients, the research team – led by EACR member Professor Clare Isacke in the Breast Cancer Now Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London and Professor Hellmut Augustin at the DKFZ in Heidelberg – compared pericytes that produced endosialin with ones that couldn’t, and investigated how this affected the process of cancer spread.

“We believe that endosialin could be a useful marker of how likely a woman’s breast cancer is to spread around the body. And it might even be possible to block cancer spread by targeting this molecule with new drugs – something we plan to explore in future studies.” said Clare Isacke, Professor at the ICR London and EACR member.

Source: EACR