Health · Medical Research · 7 hrs ago
Heart pumping may help stop cancer cells from growing
Primary cancer that starts in the heart is very rare, and most heart tumours are benign.
Heart muscle cells usually stop dividing soon after birth, which means fewer chances for the DNA errors that can lead to cancer.
Researchers at the University of Trieste in Italy found that the heart’s constant pumping may also hinder tumour growth.
In mice with hearts engineered to pump much more slowly, injected human cancer cells began to grow; when the hearts worked normally, the cells died off.
The researchers say pumping may trigger a protein called Nesprin-2 that tells cancer cells to stop reproducing.
The team is now investigating a wearable device that could apply similar pressure to tumours in places such as the skin or breast.
Researchers at the University of Trieste found that the heart’s pumping action may prevent cancer cells from growing.
In experiments with mice, cancer cells proliferated when the heart’s pumping rate was reduced and died off when it worked normally.
The researchers say mechanical activity prompts production of the protein Nesprin-2, which signals cancer cells to stop reproducing.
The findings could inform treatments that apply mechanical pressure to tumours, but research into a wearable device is still underway.
Primary cancer of the heart is rare, and most such tumours are benign.
- Who
- Researchers at the University of Trieste, led by Serena Zacchigna.
- What
- The team found that the heart’s mechanical activity may limit cancer cell growth, partly through the protein Nesprin-2.
- When
- The study was recently published; the exact date is not stated.
- Where
- The research was conducted at the University of Trieste in Italy, with experiments in mice.
- Why
- The researchers investigated why primary heart cancer is rare and whether mechanical forces might help stop tumours growing.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researchers injected human cancer cells into mice whose hearts had been genetically engineered to pump at a fraction of the normal rate.
Cancer cells began to proliferate; when the heart worked normally, they died off again.
The results were published in the journal Science.
- Research institution
- University of Trieste, Italy
- Study journal
- Science
- Heart contractions
- Up to 100,000 times a day
- Protein identified
- Nesprin-2
- Primary heart cancer
- Estimated to affect 0.02 per cent of the UK population
What people are saying
This suggests the cardiac environment is unfavourable to tumour cells, partly because its continuous mechanical activity physically limits their expansion.
Dying heart cells are not replaced – unlike the lining of the bowel, for example, which reproduces every five to ten days, which is one of the reasons why bowel cancer is very common.