Ninety percent of cancer deaths are due to the spread of cancer, not complications from the original tumor. Scientists have been on a quest to identify which malignant mutations within the tumor allow rogue cells to break away from the primary tumor and travel through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to metastasize.
Metastasis we believe is, at least in part, a hereditary disorder,” said Sohail Tavazoie, MD, PhD, the Leon Hess Professor at Rockefeller University. “We have been so