Dr Michael Way

Cell Motility Laboratory
Cancer Research UK London Research Institute
London

Understanding cancer spread: how do cells move?

Dr Michael Way is based at our London Research Institute. He is studying how cells move, to understand how cancer spreads. His work could help develop new treatments to combat this process in the future.

One of the biggest challenges in cancer is to stop the disease spreading to other parts of the body. Cancer spread is responsible for most deaths from the disease, so finding ways to tackle it is vital to save even more lives.

Studying key molecules

Dr Way has made important contributions to scientists’ knowledge about how cells move, and is an international leader in virus research. He is studying viruses to learn more about the molecules that control cell movement.

Dr Way has discovered how certain viruses move from one end of a cell to the other, and has identified a molecule called kinesin-1 that helps them to do this.

He and his team are also studying another group of molecules that control the assembly of a cell’s ‘scaffolding’. This scaffolding, also called the cytoskeleton, helps cells to keep their shape and enables them to move around.

By learning more about how cells move, Dr Way and his team will help to develop drugs that can block the process and prevent cancer spread.