Magnetic tool to decode secrets of cancer spread

“By understanding how these packages work, we hope to find better ways to diagnose the disease and create more predictable treatment outcomes for patients.”

The extracellular vesicles released by cancer cells contain proteins, DNA and other material that enable tumours to grow and metastases to spread throughout the body. They also contain important information about cancer cell biology.

The team hope to better understand this process with an initial focus on pleural mesothelioma, a particularly aggressive form of lung cancer with high prevalence in Australia.

“Pleural mesothelioma is a big challenge for doctors because its cells are so heterogeneous,” Dr Lin said.

“Within a single tumour, there are diverse populations of cells with different molecular signatures, making them react differently to treatments. Some are linked to disease with much poorer prognoses than others.”

The diversity of cells in a tumour can make it challenging for doctors to accurately diagnose and treat many types of cancer.

“Our main goal is to solve a major mystery in cancer research: how do the cells in tumors become so diverse and difficult to treat?” he said.

“By giving us high-resolution data down to the level of a single vesicle, we hope our tool will help us discover new basically biological clues that can help doctors predict and treat mesothelioma much more effectively.”

“By decoding these messages, we hope to establish the foundational knowledge needed to improve diagnostics, create better therapies and ultimately save lives by taking the guesswork out of managing mesothelioma and other cancers.”