New Discoveries and Honors in Cancer Research

Read the latest cancer research and recognition from the members of the Damon Runyon scientific circle.
April 23, 2018
New imaging method shows how normal and cancer cells move

Benjamin L. Martin, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ’17-’18) and David Q. Matus, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ’17-’18, Damon Runyon Fellow '07-'10) of Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, and colleagues, have developed new cell imaging technology that allows scientists investigating cancer and other diseases insights into how cells operate in real-time. This is the first time high-resolution, three-dimensional footage of the process has been visualized in action. One video shows in stunning detail a breast cancer cell rolling, crawling, and invading out of a blood vessel in a zebrafish. These observations indicate that breast cancer cells mimic immune cells called leukocytes and may help researchers discover new targets to stop the spread of metastatic cancer cells. Published in Science, this technology has the potential to observe cells across different organisms and developmental stages and in conditions such as cell division, immune processes, and metastasis.