Scientists have developed a new computational method that increases the ability to track the spread of cancer cells from one part of the body to another.
This migration of cells can lead to metastatic disease, which causes about 90 per cent of cancer deaths from solid tumours - masses of cells that grow in organs such as the breast, prostate or colon.
Understanding the drivers of metastasis could lead to new treatments aimed at blocking the process of cancer spreading through the body.
In a study published in the May issue of Nature Genetics, researchers from Princeton University in the US presented an algorithm that can track cancer metastasis by integrating DNA sequence data with information on where cells are located in the body.
They call it MACHINA, which stands for "metastatic and clonal history integrative analysis."
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