Breast Cancer Spreads at Night, Study Shows
Published:23 Jun.2022 Source:ETH Zurich
"When the affected person is asleep, the tumour awakens," summarises study leader Nicola Aceto, Professor of Molecular Oncology at ETH Zurich. During their study, which included 30 female cancer patients and mouse models, the researchers found that the tumour generates more circulating cells when the organism is asleep. Cells that leave the tumour at night also divide more quickly and therefore have a higher potential to form metastases, compared to circulating cells that leave the tumour during the day.
"Our research shows that the escape of circulating cancer cells from the original tumour is controlled by hormones such as melatonin, which determine our rhythms of day and night," says Zoi Diamantopoulou, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich.