How do metastases form? 

For a metastasis to form, a cancer cell must detach from the primary tumor and enter the bloodstream. Wallenberg Academy Fellow Xingqi Chen will develop an interdisciplinary toolbox for studying this process in detail. The hope is to find ways to prevent the formation of metastases, so that fewer people have cancers that recur. 

Cancer cells change, slowly but surely, as tumors grow and genetic mutations and other disturbances arise in the genome. The cells’ epigenetics are also reshaped, disrupting the regulation of which genes are active in the cells, among other things. In addition, the environment inside the tumor changes. Cancer cells release substances that affect the body’s immune cells and the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. 

All the pathological changes to the tumor influence the risk of metastases forming. Epithelial cells, which normally cover the surface of organs, may transform into mesenchymal cells. These detach from the tumor and spread to other parts of the body. 

Dr Xingqi Chen from Uppsala University will develop a toolbox of advanced methods in molecular biology to map the genome and epigenetics of individual tumor cells, and investigate how the tumor microenvironment affects the cells, to understand how metastases form. He will look specifically at colorectal cancer, with the aim of finding a way to block this process and prevent the cancer from spreading. 

Photo Patrik Lundin