EDITORIAL – 70% of cancer deaths are linked to the presence of metastases. To better treat them, the Curie Institute has decided to tackle their “iron appetite”.

By Sylvie Riou-Millot.
We all know the alchemists’ dream of turning lead into gold. A Holy Grail almost achieved by recent work conducted by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. But the dream of French researchers involved in cancer research is focused on other metals. Take iron and copper, for example, at the heart of a pioneering study conducted at the Curie Institute (Paris) by chemist Raphaël Rodriguez. Just published in mid-May in the journal Nature, it could well be a game-changer in the fight against this disease, which is responsible for 10 million deaths worldwide each year.

To fully understand the issues at stake, it’s important to know that in 70% of cancer deaths, the cause is linked to the presence of metastases. This refers to cancer cells originating from the primary tumor (breast, lung, colon, prostate, pancreas, etc.) which, via the bloodstream, leave their initial location to spread elsewhere in the body (bones, liver, brain, lungs, etc.).

Unfortunately, current detection methods are not sensitive enough to identify the migration of these cells early enough. Furthermore, some particularly aggressive cancers, such as pancreatic cancer, have the characteristic of metastasizing very early in the disease’s development, giving them a considerable head start before treatment can begin.