Cancer
“Cancer” is a word used to name a vast collection of diverse molecular diseases in which cells undergo uncontrolled proliferation and normal biofunction failure.
Cancer may be classified by tissue sites of cancer origin, tumor grading, cancer staging, and molecular markers.
Cancer Metastasis
Tumor metastasis is the process of cancer cell migration from original niches to secondary niches of neighboring and distant tissues and organs. Cancer metastasis is a major source of cancer lethality.
Due to uncontrolled cell proliferation, cancer cells in original niches often experience multiple stressors (including nutrient deprivation, hypoxia, low pH, and lots of metabolic wastes). Thus, cancer cells are under stress to migrate to other tissues/organs with optimal microenvironments for new colony initiation and growth.
Cytocapsular Membrane
Cytocapsular Tubes
Cytocapsular tube is a newly recognized organelle which is composed of membrane-enclosed tube-shaped vessels outside of the cytoplasm membrane generated by single mammalian cells. A single mammalian cell can engender a cytocapsular tube outside of the cytoplasm membrane and bi-directionally migrate within. Multiple cytocapsular tubes can interconnect and from three-dimensional networks in clinical tissues in vivo. Cells, which generated the cytocapsular tubes and foreign cells, can migrate bi-directionally in cytocapsular tubes and networks (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=cytocapsular+tube).
Cancer Metastasis Pathways
Cancer cells migrate in membrane-enclosed freeway systems of cytocapsular tube networks in tissues and massively relocate to neighboring and far distant destinations.
Precise Cancer Metastasis Treatment
Precise cancer metastasis diagnosis at the early stage is necessary and essential for effective cancer treatment and therapy.
Cytocapsular tubes, the physical membranous cancer cell dissemination pathways, provides a robust target for precisely and quantitatively identify cancer metastasis margin at 3-6 micrometer level and status in all-spectrum level of cytocapsular tube lifecycle.
Quantitative Cancer Metastasis (CM) Prognosis and Diagnosis
Conventional cancer metastasis diagnosis methods based on rough information of tissue abnormal color, shape, sizes, density, stiffness, morphology, texture, visible dots with X-ray/ultrasound/NMR images, and off-target molecular markers may lead to miss or loss of appropriate treatment time and opportunity , incorrect or inappropriate treatments, off-target treatments, heavy side-effects and ineffective treatments.
Quantitative and precise cancer metastasis (CM) prognosis and diagnosis focusing on correct targets are vital for effective cancer surgery, therapy and treatment. Newly recognized organelle of cancer cell metastasis physical pathways of cytocapsular tubes and networks may facilitate to reach quantitative and precise cancer metastasis diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, pharmacotherapy and management.
Cancer Metastasis (CM) Grading
Precise, quantitative and appropriate cancer metastasis measurements are prerequisites for correct cancer metastasis (CM) grading.
Accurate CM grading of each cancer patient is essential for cancer metastasis therapy and treatment.
The discovery of cytocapsular tubes may facilitate the establishment of novel, precise, quantitative and appropriate cancer metastasis grading.