Melbourne, June 26 (ANI): Cancer cells move around by adapting their behaviour to whatever environment they are in, a new study has found.
According to the research, the cells have a tendency to "crawl" on flat surfaces, while in a web-like meshwork, they become rounder to help them wring through gaps, News.com.au reported.
The findings, which were derived by observing tumour cells in different conditions, could aid the growth of new treatments to restrain the spread of cancer.
Dr Melda Tozluoglu, from the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, a member of the team which conducted the study, said that for cancer to spread, cancer cells actually need to move inside the body, from one point to another, stop, and start a new tumour.
Tozluoglu asserted that their work focuses on understanding how the cancer cells move in the body, so that they can lock them into place so that other treatments can destroy them.
The work is published in the journal Nature Cell Biology. (ANI)