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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sarah Ward

Bowel cancer cells can ‘shapeshift’ to enable aggressive spread, research finds

Researchers found bowel cancer cells can go through a ‘shapeshifting’ process and emerge with a different appearance akin to skin or muscle cells (Aslihan Bastem Akan/PA) -

Bowel cancer cells can “shapeshift” to resemble skin or muscle cells to enable them to spread aggressively, according to scientists who have hailed it as a major breakthrough they hope can help treat a surge of the disease in young people.

A study by the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre and the University of Edinburgh found a key step in some aggressive forms of bowel cancer involved cancer cells losing their identity, known as cellular plasticity.

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