Why Cancer Metastasis?
Celldim strives to provide very early diagnosis to prevent and stop cancers and cancer metastasis for cancer patients. As a hallmark of cancer, metastasis is a major cause of cancer lethality. While cell movement is a necessary and normal biological function, cancer cells utilize and alter this mechanism to invade via membrane-enclosed physical freeways of CCTs and proliferate in distant organs. Cancer cells disseminate from the original tumor sites and spread to multiple tissues and organs throughout the body. Left untreated, this can lead to multiple organ failure.
Due to the complexity of cancer metastasis and new malignant tumor growth, much is still unknown, driving the need for continued research to understand and develop therapeutic strategies to target and restrict tumor metastasis. In the estimated 10 million cancer deaths that occur worldwide every year, metastasis is a major factor. Are we close to understanding the mechanisms of cancer metastasis?
Our Discovery
Cellmig Biolabs, the parent of Celldim Therapeutics, recently discovered a breakthrough mechanism of how cancer cells spread throughout the body. Cancer cells produce extra-cellular membrane-enclosed structures, termed cytocapsulae, to encase and protect themselves from unfavorable microenvironments.
In addition, cancer cells move within these cytocapsulae, expanding and stretching them to form long cytocapsular tubes (CCTs). By expanding these cytocapsular tubes, cells form membrane-enclosed physical freeways, navigating through the body and various tissue types. Multiple CCTs interconnect to form large, intricate CCT networks. These CCT networks act as a highway system, enabling cancer cells to freely relocate to distant tissues and organs. These cytocapsulae and cytocapsular tubes direct cancer metastasis through the body.
How can we fight cancer metastasis?
With further research on this novel discovery of cytocapsular tubes, Celldim Therapeutics has developed the ability to identify cytocapsular tubes using our proprietary diagnostic kits. Our kits and technologies will make the previously invisible CCTs visible and enable clinical doctors to easily identify cancers in patient tissues and ultimately detect how and where cancer cells spread.
