How the cells around a tumour can help it spread

These are fibroblast cells.
Normally, they help support our body’s tissues.
But cancer can corrupt them, helping it to spread.
In the top right, you can see breast cancer cells growing on their own in the lab. And they don’t move very far.
But in the bottom left, breast cancer cells have been mixed with healthy fibroblasts.
They are paving the way for the cancer cells, helping them move further.
Understanding how these healthy cells become corrupted will help reveal exactly how cancer spreads
And perhaps, one day, a new way to stop it


First video

Second video
Fibroblast and breast cancer cell video by Erik Sahai, The Francis Crick Institute, Cancer Research UK, 2015.

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