Breast Cancer Cells Use Nerves to Spread

Nerves Help Cancer Cells Travel Throughout the Body

In a surprising discovery, researchers have found that breast cancer cells can use nerves to spread throughout the body. This finding could lead to new treatments for breast cancer, which is the most common cancer among women in the United States.

How Cancer Cells Use Nerves

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) found that breast cancer cells can attach themselves to sensory nerves. These nerves carry information from the body to the brain. Once attached to a nerve, cancer cells can travel along the nerve fibers to other parts of the body.

The researchers found that this process, called perineural invasion, is more common in breast cancers that are more aggressive and have a higher risk of spreading. They also found that perineural invasion is associated with a worse prognosis for patients with breast cancer.

New Treatments for Breast Cancer

The discovery that breast cancer cells can use nerves to spread could lead to new treatments for breast cancer. For example, researchers are developing drugs that block perineural invasion. These drugs could prevent cancer cells from spreading to other parts of the body and could improve the prognosis for patients with breast cancer.

The discovery of perineural invasion is an important step forward in the fight against breast cancer. This new knowledge could lead to new treatments that can prevent cancer cells from spreading and improve the prognosis for patients with breast cancer.