Some cancers grow faster, spread more aggressively, and respond less effectively to treatment than others. Researchers at Virginia Tech are uncovering surprising reasons behind these differences, including how abnormal cancer cells recruit healthy tissue to support tumor growth and why the size of certain cancer cells could help predict their danger. The discoveries emerged from years of painstaking laboratory work, including the careful examination of tumors grown in mice.
Graduate student Megan Sweet, who studies biological sciences at Virginia Tech, spends much of her time preparing extremely thin slices of tumor tissue. Working inside a refrigerated metal chamber, she carefully adjusts a mounted tumor, roughly the size of a pinkie fingernail, toward a sharp cutting blade. "It's all about fine-tuning and making sure it's going to be an even slice," said Sweet, who studies biological sciences.
As the blade moves through the tissue, it produces a steady, rhythmic chopping sound. "This is the hardest and most time-consuming part," Sweet said. "But it's also kind of meditative." Each section is cut so thin that light can pass through it.
Sweet carefully transfers the delicate tissue onto a glass slide, where selected cellular structures are stained to make them easier to distinguish under a powerful microscope. The process involves repeated rounds of cutting, staining, examining, and comparing samples. Although painstaking, this work is helping scientists piece together why certain tumors become much more dangerous than others.
The Virginia Tech team has published findings that shed new light on how cancer develops and progresses. Their research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with additional findings published earlier this year in Cancer Research. Most healthy cells in the human body are diploid, meaning they contain two complete sets of chromosomes, with one inherited from each parent.
Under normal conditions, these cells divide to produce new cells with the same chromosome arrangement. Occasionally, however, something goes wrong during division, leaving cells with an abnormal number of chromosomes. When these errors are passed on during subsequent cell divisions, they can accumulate over time.
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