Research illuminates how melanoma readies lymph nodes for tumor spread

Source: EurekAlert!, January 2022

Melanoma cells release small extracellular packages containing the protein nerve growth factor receptor, which primes nearby lymph nodes for tumor metastases, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

The study results, published on Nov. 25 in Nature Cancer, may one day help doctors determine which patients need more aggressive treatment and could help with the development of new therapies, said senior author, Dr. David Lyden, the Stavros S. Niarchos Professor in Pediatric Cardiology and a professor of pediatrics and of cell and developmental biology at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Traditionally, scientists have had a tumor centric view of melanoma in which cells from the tumor break off and travel to nearby lymph nodes, as cancer metastasizes. “What our study shows is that the lymph node mechanistically prepares for future metastases,” said Dr. Lyden, who is also a member of the Gale and Ira Drukier Institute for Children’s Health and the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. “There are many changes taking place in the lymph node even before the tumor cell gets there. We call it a pre-metastatic lymph node.”

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