Ever been curious why CRC spreads to the liver?
A new study, published today in Nature, shows how a chain reaction involving hepatocytes creates the "soil" needed for cancer cells to "seed."
The seed-and-soil theory has been known for awhile, but they didn't know hepatocytes were the major originators of this process. Hepatocytes, which are the chief functional cells of the liver, sense inflammation and respond in a way that cancer uses to help it spread. That means potentially the process could be stopped by using antibodies that block IL-6 (interleukin 6), the "trigger" that drives the chain reaction.
It still doesn't explain why it doesn't go to the liver in some people and just heads straight for the lungs instead. Maybe there's some "pro-metastatic" process involved there too. However, I think this could lead to new therapies, which is always good!
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-cancer-frequently-liver.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1004-y (Unfortunately, just an abstract of the article)
Juliej