Russian scientists have shown the network nature of the spread of cancer

For the first time in the world, Russian scientists from Sechenov University and other major research centers have studied in detail the processes of invasion and metastasis using X-ray computed microtomography. This is a method of examining tissues using X-rays without destroying them. Its use made it possible for the first time to visualize processes in three-dimensional space with microscopic resolution.

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"Histological examination, which is widely used by pathologists to diagnose oncological diseases, allows us to obtain only flat, two—dimensional sections of the tumor and surrounding healthy tissues," Sergey Tkachev, head of the study and a junior researcher at the University's Institute of Regenerative Medicine, told Izvestia.

According to him, histological examination is considered the gold standard of diagnosis for accurate diagnosis of diseases, however, on flat sections it is impossible to trace exactly how the neoplasm spreads in living tissue. Therefore, specialists have significantly increased the accuracy of imaging tumor progression by combining microtomography and histology.

Scientists have modeled the development of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus: tumor fragments obtained from the patient were transplanted into immunodeficient mice, which allowed them to reproduce the process of invasion and metastasis. Using X-ray microtomography and histological examination of comparable areas of interest, the researchers were able to study in detail how cancer cells penetrate into surrounding tissues, form metastases and interact with the microenvironment.

The findings open up new possibilities for the development of therapeutic strategies aimed at disrupting the cyclical invasion process. Targeted drugs that affect leader cells or adaptive plasticity mechanisms may become key in the fight against metastatic tumors, experts from Sechenov University emphasized.