Ann Arbor, MI — May 16, 2012 — Research at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry may shed some light on why a common chemotherapy drug may, when used, result in cancer cells growing more easily. 

Dr. Laurie McCauley, professor in the School’s Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine and principal investigator of the study, noted that prostate and breast cancer often spread to bones.  The study found that when the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide is administered it can suppress certain bone marrow cells that help the immune system but that it also increases some harmful cells that encourage metastasis. 

The good news is that researchers were able to reverse the tumor-friendly effects of the drug by using a cell-communicating protein in the bone marrow, CCL2.  McCauley said further research may eventually lead to developing new drugs that prevent local cancers from spreading.

Video: 'Fertilizing' bone marrow helps answer why some cancers spread to bones