Name: How cancer cells communicate -- and how we can slow them down
Uploaded: 2018-08-16T19:52:49Z
Duration: 10 min 9 s
Description: When cancer cells are closely packed together in a tumor, they're able to communicate with each other and coordinate their movement throughout the body. What if we could interrupt this process? In this accessible talk about cutting-edge science, Hasini Jayatilaka shares her work on an innovative method to stop cancer cells from communicating -- and halt their fatal ability to spread.

When cancer cells are closely packed together in a tumor, they're able to communicate with each other and coordinate their movement throughout the body. What if we could interrupt this process? In this accessible talk about cutting-edge science, Hasini Jayatilaka shares her work on an innovative method to stop cancer cells from communicating -- and halt their fatal ability to spread.

How cancer cells communicate -- and how we can slow them down

Most people who die from cancer do so because the disease spreads, not because of the original tumor. Recent research uncovered that cancer cells communicate using signaling molecules, especially when packed tightly together, which helps them coordinate their movement and metastasize. By disrupting this communication with a specific drug cocktail, scientists managed to slow the spread of cancer in preclinical models. This approach offers hope for new therapies that target metastasis directly, rather than just tumor growth.

Blocking Cancer’s Secret Conversations Halts Its Deadly Spread

cancer

medicine

science

medical research

discovery

innovation

TEDx

human body

TEDx Talk

Hasini Jayatilaka: How cancer cells communicate -- and how we can slow them down