By Cerise Carey

Invasive cells, ones that travel from tumor tissue to form new tumors elsewhere within the host, have been the focus of most cancer research. In a recent study, Dr. David Q. Matus, an Assistant Professor in the Stony Brook University Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, and his colleagues found that cells in the roundworm nematode C. elegans cannot divide and invade at the same time. Targeting cells that have stopped dividing presents a new strategy for treating metastatic cancer. Further research is still needed to explain why roundworm cells only become invasive once they stop dividing. These new findings present a novel approach for developing effective cancer treatments and possibilities for alternate interventions.

1. Filiano, Study suggests targeting invasive cells not diving cells to halt cancer. Stony Brook Newsroom, (2015).