Everyone gets stressed sometimes. It seems that cancer cells get stressed too. In the case of the cells, the stress is 'real' and is caused the friction or pressure that cells encounter when they move through the body. Researchers at the University of Rochester want to know how stress affects proteins and cells. An understanding of this could help lower metastasis, or the spread of cancer cells.
According to Jiandi Wan, an assistant professor in the college of engineering, “We can use this information to determine how the blood can bring diseases to other parts of the body, and can we control it?”
This research is related to Wan’s previous study of circulating cancer cells. His team created a device that mimicked the movement of circulating tumor cells and explored the effects of stress on the cells. They are particularly interested in how cancer cells move from one place to another.
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