Breast cancer spreads at night: Surprising findings from cancer research

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Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Each year, around 2.3 million people worldwide contract the disease. If doctors detect breast cancer early enough, patients usually respond well to treatment. However, things become much more difficult if the cancer has already metastasized. Metastasis occurs when circulating cancer cells break away from the original tumor, travel through the body via blood vessels and form new tumors in other organs.

To date, cancer research has not paid much attention to the question of when tumors shed metastatic cells. Researchers previously assumed that tumors release such cells continuously. However, a new study by researchers at ETH Zurich, the University Hospital Basel and the University of Basel has now come to a surprising conclusion: circulating cancer cells that later form metastases mainly arise during the sleep phase of the affected individuals. The results of the study have just been published in the journal Nature.

Read more of the original article from MedicalXpress

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