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Breakthrough in understanding spread of cancer around the body
reported at RCSI Research Day 2013
05 March 2013
A new research study has investigated how cancer cells ‘hijack’ blood cells known as
platelets, enabling cancer to spread around the body and promoting the growth of new
tumours, it was reported today at the annual Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)
Research Day.
The findings of this significant new study will inform the development of novel anti-cancer
drugs.
Platelet blood cells normally have a role in blood clotting. In patients with cancer, cancer
cells moving around in their bloodstream act on the platelets causing them to behave
abnormally. The cancer cells encourage the platelets to clot around the cancer cell,
protecting the cancer cell from the body’s immune system and enabling the cancer to
spread to other parts of the body.
Furthermore, the cancer cells cause the clusters of platelets to establish new blood vessels.
This new blood source promotes the growth of secondary (metastatic) cancer tumours.
Explaining the significance of the study, senior author Professor Niamh Moran, Associate
Professor in Molecular and Cellular therapeutics explained ‘This is the first time that the
exact molecular mechanisms at play between prostate cancer cells and platelets have been
understood. It was already known that cancer patients with a higher platelet count had
worse outcomes but we now know what causes this negative effect. Our study paves the
way for the development of new anti-cancer treatments that may potentially prevent the
spread of cancer.’
The first author on the study was PhD student Annachiara Mitrugno who worked in
collaboration with Professor Moran and Professor David Williams, Associate Professor in
Geriatric and Stroke Medicine, RCSI and Beaumont Hospital, who has a special interest in
platelet research.
The research was funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) Scholars programme in
Diagnostics and Therapeutics for Human Disease.
RCSI’s annual Research Day provides scientists with the opportunity to showcase their
most recent research findings. As one of Ireland’s premier research institutions, exposure to
world-class research begins at undergraduate level for the College’s medical, pharmacy
and physiotherapy students, right up to the highest-calibre research-active academic staff.
Additional research presented at the RCSI Research Day:
New insights into bone disease caused by multi-resistant bacteria (MRSA)
A growing problem with huge predicted growth in hip and knee replacements
A surface molecule on bacteria that instructs bone cells to stop growing and die could be
the target for new treatments for bone disease. Blocking a specific protein expressed on
bacteria could be a way of treating painful bone infections that are resistant to antibiotics,
such as those caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Bone disease, or osteomyelitis, affects one in 5,000 people around the world. Osteomyelitis
can occur at any age and can occur in any bone. It occurs due to an infection following
open wound bone fractures, bone surgery or joint replacement. The cost to the Irish
Exchequer of bone fractures is an estimated €12.7 million annually. In 1990, Ireland
recorded 1509 hip fractures in the over 60s age group, by the year 2000, this had risen to
3821. With an aging population with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle in Ireland, these
figures will continue to rise. Globally, by 2030, the demand for hip replacements and knee
replacements is projected to rise by 174% and 623% respectively.
Osteomyelitis is usually caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus a bacteria that
typically lives in harmony on human skin and in the nose.
RCSI Researchers have discovered that the ability of S. aureus to latch onto bone cells
depends on a specific protein on the bacterium’s surface called ‘Spa’. Once attached to the
bone cell via Spa, the bacteria transmit signals prompting the bone to stop growing. The
Spa protein is also responsible for causing destructive inflammation in the bone leading to
further damage. The gradual loss of bone cells leads to bone destruction and weakening of
the skeletal system.
Dr. Steve Kerrigan Principal Investigator on the research explained how the group’s
findings could lead to new therapies for osteomylelitis. ‘Bacteria that do not have the Spa
protein on their surface are unable to bind to bone cells, which prevents them from sending
suicide messages or triggering prolonged destructive inflammation,’ he said. ‘Blocking
bacterial attachment to cells via Spa could therefore be a way of treating osteomyelitis, or
even preventing it in the first place.’
Therapies that could effectively prevent and/or treat osteomyelitis could greatly improve the
quality of life of sufferers. ‘The disease causes significant amounts of pain as it affects the
bone which is not as exposed as muscles or skin that can be easily massaged to ease the
pain,’ explained Dr. Kerrigan. ‘The pain caused by bone infection is permanent and the
treatment is prolonged’.
New treatments for the disease that do not rely on existing antibiotics would be
advantageous. ‘The danger of invasive bacterial disease is compounded by the emergence
of multi-drug resistant bacteria worldwide,’ explained Dr. Kerrigan. ‘The findings of this
study will help develop better diagnostic tools and treatments for osteomyelitis that will not
over-rely on antibiotics.’
The first author on the study is PhD student Amro Widaa and the research is funded by
Science Foundation Ireland.