Researchers note that some tumors are able to prepare other organs for their reception, releasing substances not only into the bloodstream or lymphatic system but also hormones, genetic materials, and microscopic fat bubbles, earning the name exosomes. If these cells manage to pass through this complex and dangerous path and reach a new organ, such as the brain or spinal cord, they will find themselves in a completely different environment without the usual nutrition and constantly under attack from immune cells and new molecules preparing for the attack.
In addition to this, scientists note that tumors are much more hazardous in organs that originally developed, but when they migrate, they tend to attack specific organs, such as, for instance, prostate cancer prefers to metastasize to bones. On the other hand, breast cancer cells may settle in places where it is extremely difficult to adapt for life, for example, the lungs and skeletal muscles may resist the appearance of breast tumors.
Researchers believe that certain types of microbes also participate in this process, for instance, intestinal bacteria "educate" the liver to accept migrating cancer cells, and bacteria from the enteric-celiac tract colonize the tumors in the intestines, while then forming a barrier that prevents the contents of the intestinal lumen from penetrating to the rest of the organism, thus contributing to the spread of cancer to other organs.
To understand how cancer cells remain alive in unfamiliar environments inside the organism, scientists have taken embryonic cells from breast or lung cancer patients and found that cancer cells could change some biological and chemical properties to have the ability to absorb iron from a new organ. This is important for their growth and energy production.
An interesting fact is that during the injection of certain chemicals, disturbing the absorption of iron by cancer cells, mice lived longer. Researchers emphasize that questions about the migration and promotion of cancer cells within the organism continue to require a deeper understanding and scientific answers, since there is no "scientific recipe" for combating metastasis of cancer tumors.
