![Curbing Cancer Invasion]()
Metastasis—the spread of cancer from its original site to another part of the body—is the primary cause of death for cancer patients. In metastasis, cancer cells migrate from primary tumors and accumulate around neighboring blood vessels; they must then cross the vessels’ inner wall, or endothelium. This process, called intravasation, requires cancer cells (above, in green) to project finger-like protrusions called invadopodia (yellow) that tether them to the endothelial wall while they secrete enzymes that allow them to penetrate the wall, enter the circulation and travel through the body. Understanding how invadopodia form is essential for developing drugs to prevent metastasis. The National Cancer Institute has awarded nearly $2 million over five years to John Condeelis, Ph.D., to further his study of invadopodia assembly in breast cancer. The renewal grant continues nearly 30 years of support for research in which Dr. Condeelis has found pathways that trigger invadopodium formation and regulate invadopodium function. He is professor and co-chair of anatomy & structural biology, co-director of the Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center and the Integrated Imaging Program, scientific director of the Analytical Imaging Facility and director of the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center. He also holds the Judith and Burton P. Resnick Chair in Translational Research.
Posted on: Thursday, February 11, 2016