Breakthrough study shows how cancer cells ‘break through’ tight tissue gaps
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2025 — Aggressive cancer cells are masters of movement. When they spread through the body, they cause metastasis, which significantly reduces a person’s chance of survival. For this spreading to take place, they can switch between different cell states — behaviors of cells — that move with different strategies.
A previous study revealed two specific metastatic cancer lines — MV3 (melanoma) and HT1080 (fibrosarcoma) — are capable of making a similar switch when the gaps in tissue are very tight. However, the study found that only one of the cell lines did so by switching motility modes in response ...