Scientists are constructing comprehensive maps of colorectal cancer to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the disease. In the United States, reaching the age of 45 marks the start of a less-than-pleasant rite of passage - the initiation of regular colonoscopies. During these procedures,
Scientists created a 3D reconstruction of colorectal cancer that showed previously unknown structural features of the disease and how they’re connected. Credit: Clarence Yapp, Sorger lab, Harvard Medical School
Researchers are combining histological information obtained through traditional pathology with molecular data acquired through cutting-edge multiplexed imaging to build detailed maps of colorectal cancer. Credit: Shannon Coy, Santagata lab; Shu Wang and Yu-An Chen, Sorger lab, Harvard Medical School
However, traditional histology has its limits — namely, it doesn’t capture a cancer’s molecular makeup or physical structure, which makes it difficult to fully take advantage of the information cancer researchers have gained over the past 50 years. A 3D reconstruction of colorectal cancer revealed that what was once thought to be 2D mucin pools with clusters of cancer cells floating inside is actually a complex and extensive network of channels and caverns , with cancer cells forming finger-like projections . Credit: Clarence Yapp, Sorger lab, Harvard Medical School
The maps also provided new insights into the architecture of the tumors. For example, scientists had previously identified what they thought were 2D pools of a mucus-like substance called mucin with clusters of cancer cells floating inside. However, in the new study, the 3D reconstruction revealed that these mucin pools are, in fact, a series of caverns interconnected by channels, with finger-like projections of cancer cells.
“This is allowing us to extract a whole additional layer of molecular and structural features that we think will provide diagnostic and prognostic information and improve our ability to target these cancers,” Santagata added.
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