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Research into cancer spread - metastasis

One of the biggest challenges in successfully treating cancer is preventing it from spreading around the body, and keeping cancer that has already spread at bay. Most cancer deaths are caused when cancer cells travel to new sites within the body and grow as secondary tumours.

This process - called ‘metastasis’ - is extremely complex and highly challenging to study in the lab. However, Cancer Research UK scientists are using a variety of novel, exciting ways to explore cancer spread and probe the molecules involved.

This work is significantly improving researchers’ understanding of metastasis. And it’s revealing opportunities to develop new treatments designed to stop cancer in its tracks.

Below are some of the highlights of our metastasis research portfolio.

All cancer types

Prof Margaret Frame Prof Margaret Frame

Cell Adhesion Signalling Laboratory

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh

How do cancer cells spread - and how can we stop them?

Possibly the biggest challenge in cancer treatment is to stop the disease spreading to other parts of the body. Research in Professor Margaret Frame's lab based at the University of Edinburgh is aimed at understanding in detail how cancer cells move around.

Prof Ian Hart Prof Ian Hart

Tumour Biology Laboratory

Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, London

Tackling cancer spread

Professor Ian Hart at Bart's and the London School of Medicine & Dentistry is studying how cancer cells spread around the body - a process called metastasis. Metastases or secondary tumours form when cancer cells spread to new sites and are the cause of most deaths from cancer. Understanding this process is critical if we are to develop more effective cancer treatments. 

Dr Nancy Hogg Dr Nancy Hogg

Leukocyte adhesion laboratory

London Research Institute, London

How do cancers spread?

One of the things that makes cancer so difficult to treat is that it can spread to other parts of the body - this process is called metastasis. Dr Nancy Hogg and her team at our London Research Institute are studying metastasis using white blood cells, which are part of the immune system.

Prof Chris Marshall Prof Chris Marshall

Cancer Research UK Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology

The Institute of Cancer Research, London

How do cancer cells grow and spread?

Professor Chris Marshall is the Director of the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology, which is at the forefront of UK research into the molecular causes of cancer. Professor Marshall leads the Oncogene Team, which is studying the communication pathways within cancer cells that determine how they behave. Central to his research are two groups of related proteins called 'Ras' and 'Rho'.

 

Lung cancer

Dr Fergus Macbeth Dr Fergus Macbeth

Velindre Hospital

Velindre NHS Trust, Cardiff

Reducing blood clots in lung cancer patients

Dr Fergus Macbeth is an expert in lung cancer research and works at the Velindre Hospital in Cardiff.  He is co-ordinating a clinical trial called FRAGMATIC, investigating whether the blood thinning drug Dalteparin (also called Fragmin) can reduce the number of blood clots in people with lung cancer. Blood clots are common in people with the disease and can also be a side effect of treatment. They can be very serious if they start to move through the body so it is important to find ways of preventing them.

 

Pancreatic cancer

Prof Jeff Evans Prof Jeff Evans

Centre for Oncology and Applied Pharmacology

Beatson Institute for Cancer Research    , Glasgow

Stopping pancreatic cancer from spreading

Professor Jeff Evans is based at Cancer Research UK's Beatson Institute in Glasgow, where he is Professor of Translational Cancer Research. He is investigating drugs that could stop pancreatic cancer from spreading, a major problem in this disease.