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Scoobydoomed t1_iqvx371 wrote

>But the most surprising discovery came when the team tested the
technique in mice without cancer. Blocking NALCN also caused healthy
cells to migrate away from their original organs to other ones –
pancreatic cells, for instance, moved to the kidney and became healthy
kidney cells instead.

Wow! This breakthrough could potentially lead to stuff like regeneration of damaged tissue, or maybe even regrowing limbs and organs?

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destiny_fucker01 t1_iqwd7mf wrote

I have chronic pancreatitis and currently there's no cure for this. Literally meant to die painfully and slowly with this disease. Hope this discovery save me and many other patients.

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noeagle77 t1_iqxebzy wrote

I hope you come out on top with some breakthrough like this ❤️

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ConflagWex t1_iqxtjz8 wrote

Oof that sucks. The pancreas is one of those organs that no one thinks about when it's working properly but will seriously fuck you up if something goes wrong.

I hope this does lead to some treatment for you and others.

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Dank_sniggity t1_iqybzcw wrote

Things that kill you right quick; brain, heart, pancreas, liver… in that order

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AnimalFarmKeeper t1_ir89hzg wrote

Liposomal Vitamin C at 4000mg/day minimum. Standard Vitamin C formulations are unable to accumulate in cells at therapeutically relevant concentrations.

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tgass t1_iqxcnjc wrote

I am confused.

The article states that "the scientists blocked the function of the NALCN protein, and found that it triggered metastasis in stomach, intestinal and pancreatic cancers."

Why would you use that mechanism if it can cause metastasis?
It seems like a huge gamble, and possibly cause early onset metastasis.

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Scoobydoomed t1_iqz1246 wrote

They were testing something unrelated with blocking NALCN (mobilization of salt in cells) and found out about the metastasis on accident.

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beatthestupidout t1_iqzsa3s wrote

I imagine because if you can figure out how to unblock it, you can prevent metastasis? That has enormous implications in cancer treatment, suddenly a whole host of cancers become curable if they're not just constantly cropping up all over the body.

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christiandb t1_iqyjvnj wrote

Amazing amazing. If we could somehow balance ourselves at a cellular level, that would be mind blowing

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SuperGameTheory t1_iqys8hx wrote

So, wait a second. The cells move to a different organ and re-differentiate? Or does this process revert cells back to stem cells?

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SageCarnivore t1_iqyrw18 wrote

Isn't there a peptide out there that does something similar?

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AnimalFarmKeeper t1_ir88zal wrote

Block NALCN, and inject stem cells into damaged organ. Normally, stem cells die off quickly when introduced into the body, but in this instance, they may be able to differentiate into the desired cell type, prompting regeneration of the damaged organ.

As for cancer, upregulate NALCN, and potentially cripple the ability of cancerous cells to migrate from the primary tumour.

If we're going to be interfering with NALCN for therapeutic effect, I wonder if there is an alternative way to maintain cellular sodium gradients, when it is either a suppressed, or upregulated state.

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blaspheminCapn OP t1_iqvm841 wrote

In the new study, Cambridge scientists discovered not just a new mechanism for metastasis, but completely recontextualized its role. It’s long been thought that metastasis was an abnormal process that arises in cancer, but the new study found that it’s a process used by healthy cells as well – cancer just hijacks it for its own purposes.

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Scope_Dog t1_iqws23b wrote

Seems like a pretty important leap in our understanding of metastasis. Hoping it translates into some cures.

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cmori3 t1_iqyljnf wrote

Why do these cells migrate through the body and transform? Does this disrupt our understanding of stem cells?

Fascinating.

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FuturologyBot t1_iqvqtux wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/blaspheminCapn:

In the new study, Cambridge scientists discovered not just a new mechanism for metastasis, but completely recontextualized its role. It’s long been thought that metastasis was an abnormal process that arises in cancer, but the new study found that it’s a process used by healthy cells as well – cancer just hijacks it for its own purposes.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/xuis0b/cambridge_cancer_breakthrough_may_prompt_rethink/iqvm841/

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LeatherCicada87 t1_iqz1ywf wrote

What are the thoughts of the Turkey tail fungus supplement for assisting recovery from cancers?

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[deleted] t1_iqvzqpw wrote

[deleted]

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scavengercat t1_iqw61rf wrote

Um, they will also be able to slow it down or stop it. Which is a little more exciting.

"If validated through further research, this could have far-reaching implications for how we prevent cancer from spreading and allow us to manipulate this process to repair damaged organs.”

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Mcckl t1_iqw6xcv wrote

I always find it rude to be downvoted without reply. You seem to be a very good reason to down vote without a reply when the burner isn't easily available

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[deleted] t1_iqwmv32 wrote

[deleted]

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timodreynolds t1_iqwwydu wrote

Yes... It makes sense that cells don't re invent processes in the body... but that doesn't mean we should act like we knew about this before hand. this is a new mechanism that is somewhat not intuitive, So it's good to know the specifics and great to know it may help us down the road.

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Hminney t1_iqwx9fj wrote

Since when did normal (non cancerous) cells break away from their existing organ and go somewhere else?

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