A new study has shown that cancer cells attack healthy areas of the body at night when the affected person is sleeping. Cancer cells undergo a process called metastasis where they break away from the primary tumor and mix into the bloodstream to affect other parts of the body.
The study, published in Nature, was a collaborative effort of researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel. This suggests that these cancer cells have high activity in the bloodstream when the affected person is sleeping through the night. Performed on breast cancer patients, the team of researchers found that circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are significantly higher in the bloodstream during the night than during the day.
“When the affected person is asleep, the tumor wakes up,” Professor Nicola Aceto from ETH Zurich said in a statement. Researchers included 30 female cancer patients and studied the activity of CTCs in them. They found that not only did the proliferation increase when the host was asleep, but the tumor also divided more rapidly when the host was asleep. CTCs, during the night, acquire a greater ability to effectively engage in metastases.
The researchers found that the migration of CTCs from the original tumor into the bloodstream was controlled by melatonin, a hormone that sets the rhythm of day and night for the body. The study also provided insight into how the timing of tests and samples could affect oncologists’ conclusions.
“Some of my colleagues work early in the morning or late in the evening. Sometimes they’ll even analyze the blood at unusual hours,” Aceto said. It was surprising how the circulating tumor cells showed different structures depending on the time of day.
According to Aceto, the study indicates that health professionals should systematically record the time at which they perform biopsies.
The study also lays the foundation for a variety of possible modifications in the treatment of cancer. The next thing the researchers want to investigate is whether existing treatments could be made more effective if done at different times during the day.
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