bloodstream

Counting the number of tumor cells circulating in the bloodstream of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer can accurately predict how well they are responding to treatment, new results show.

Researchers showed that changes in the number of circulating tumor cells predicted the outcome after chemotherapy in this hard to treat cancer.

The gene that allows fireflies to flash is helping researchers track the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs over time.

The technique requires a substrate called luciferin to be added to the bloodstream, which carries it to cells throughout the body.

When luciferin reaches cells that have been altered to carry the firefly gene, those cells emit light.

Scientists have developed nanometer-sized "nanoworms" that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body's immune defense system and--like tiny anti-cancer missiles--home in on tumors.

Cancer cells get a helping hand from platelets, specialized blood cells involved in clotting. Platelets shelter and feed tumor cells that stray into the bloodstream, making it easier for cancer to spread, or metastasize.

Research suggests that inactivating platelets could slow down or prevent metastasis.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a possible target to treat bloodstream bacterial infections.