Important discovery in Belgian cancer research
The team of Professor Blanpain at the Université Libre de Bruxelles has made yet another important discovery, this time concerning breast cancer and prostate cancer.
The researchers studied these two forms of cancer in particular because of how prevalent they are and they “realised that these two organs are very similar. They appear as a sort of tube made up of two types of cells: luminal cells and basal cells. These cells have their own stem cells,” as Blanpain explained.
Stem cells are basically “the mother of all cells”, as the team has so eloquently described it. It would appear from the ULB team’s research that collagen plays a key role in activating these stem cells.
They were able to identify a molecule in these stem cells that recognizes collagen. If that molecule can be stopped, it could be key in stopping cancer from spreading and metastasising (going to other places in the body).
Another discovery with a lot of potential by this decorated professor’s research team, moving us one step closer to the cure.