Implant traps spreading cancer cells
BBC News Health
A small sponge-like implant that can mop up cancer cells as they move through the body has been developed by US researchers.
So far tested in mice, it is hoped the device could act as an early warning system in patients, alerting doctors to cancer spread.
The implant also seemed to stop rogue cancer cells reaching other areas where new tumours could grow.
The findings appear in Nature Communications .
Cancer Research UK said nine in 10 cancer deaths were caused by the disease spreading to other areas of the body.
About 5mm (0.2in) in diameter and made of a biomaterial already approved for use in medical devices, the implant has so far been tested in mice with breast cancer.
Experiments showed that implanting the device in either the abdominal fat or under the skin sucked up cancer cells that had started to circulate in the body.
The implant mimicked a process where cells broken loose from a tumour were attracted to other areas in the body by immune cells, the researchers said.
They found that these immune cells set up camp on the implant - a natural reaction to any foreign body - drawing the cancer cells in.
Initially, the researchers labelled cancer cells so they would light up and be easily spotted. But they then moved on to a special imaging technique that can distinguish between cancerous and normal cells, and found they could detect cancer cells that had been caught in the implant.
Source: BBC News Health
