NEW ORLEANS, Oct 12, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- California researchers have identified what appears to be one mechanism used when cancer spreads to the liver from other organs.

Surgeons from the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica focused on receptor CXCR4 genes, which are normally idle in normal cells, but showed up in the livers of patients with colorectal cancer and melanoma.

When cancer cells bearing the CXCR4 receptor were stimulated by a protein that binds to them, there was a significant increase in cell migrational activity, said Dr. Joseph Kim, a fellow in surgical oncology at the institute. He said further research could lead to the development of drugs that target the CXCR4 receptor to treat cancers that metastasize to the liver.

"Industry is currently producing methods to specifically target cancer cells by targeting the CXCR4," Kim said.

The study was presented in New Orleans at the 2004 annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

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