Prof. Lee Seong-wook Dankook University

By Yun Suh-young

Korean researchers have found a way of preventing cancer cells from spreading to the liver, one of the major reasons cancer patients die.

The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology said Thursday that a local research team led by Professor Lee Seong-wook of Dankook University developed a substance that can track and prevent the spread of cancer cells to the liver, opening a way to find a cure for colorectal cancer.

The research was published in the July edition of Gastroenterology, a renowned journal in the gastroenterology field. The research was funded by the science, health, and finance ministries and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The new substance is an ribonucleic acid (RNA) aptamer that binds with the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and inhibits the hepatic metastasis of colon cancer cells. The team discovered that the substance could effectively prevent the metastasis of colon cancer cells to the liver in mice.

The CEA is known to accelerate the metastasis of cancer cells to the liver if overly expressed. However, how the substance is involved in metastasis or what is an effective way to prevent it had not been developed until now.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly occurring cancers internationally. Korea ranks fourth in the world and first in Asia.

The major cause of death when a person acquires cancer is the metastasis of colon cancer cells to the liver. The hepatic metastasis occurs in about two to seven patients out of 10.

Once the cancer cells spread to the liver, even if the patient receives chemotherapy or surgery, cancer is likely to reoccur because the treatment is very limited. Therefore a fundamental prevention of the cancer cells spreading to the liver is critical.