A study published on Wednesday suggests that the metastatic spread of breast cancer is accelerated during sleep, suggesting that treatments for the disease would be more effective when applied later in the day.
The discovery was carried out by a team of researchers from the Swiss ETH university in Zurichand published this Wednesday by Nature, in an article accepted by the journal in May 2022.
In the research, the scientists indicate that the metastatic spread of cancer occurs through the spread of circulating tumor cells (CTC), but point out that the temporal dynamics of the metastases caused by these cells is “poorly characterized”.
The team discovered an “unexpected pattern” in the dynamics of CTCs in breast cancer patients and also in mouse models: experimental approaches in which these animals are genetically manipulated to develop breast tumors. The results obtained show that these cells are very prone to metastasize when they are in the resting phasewhile CTCs generated during the active phase lack the ability to develop metastases.
Thus, the researchers conclude that the spontaneous generation of these cells does not occur continuously, but is concentrated during the sleep period. The researchers now intend to investigate how these findings can be incorporated into existing cancer treatments with the goal of optimizing therapies.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer. In 2021, 2.3 million women were diagnosed and 685,000 died due to this disease worldwide.
Source: Observadora
