Migrating cancer cells leave their whole genome behind in tiny parcels — and that may betray them

Cells on the move, it turns out, drop breadcrumbs. A team at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre has discovered 'MoVes' — motile vesicles, relatively large parcels shed from the trailing edge of migrating cells, each carrying the cell's entire genome and working organelles. Publishing in Nature Cell Biology, senior author Julia Burnier's team found that aggressive triple-negative breast cancer cells produce far more MoVes than healthy cells, and that switching non-cancerous cells into migration mode sharply increased production too. Because the parcels carry cancer-associated mutations, they could become a new way to detect or track spreading cancer — the cells' own litter, turned into evidence.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation