SAN FRANCISCO — Cells that undergo a near-death experience but refuse to die could be responsible for helping cancer spread in the body. <br /> <br />Scientists once thought that cells killed themselves in a process called apoptosis, which is triggered when a molecule called a caspase is activated, Science News reported. <br /> <br />However, research conducted within the last decade indicates that cells can abort their own suicide in a process named anastasis, and now scientists say this could have implications for the treatment of cancer. <br /> <br />Unpublished research from biologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, indicates that despite receiving chemotherapy treatment, cancer cells can come back to life through the anastasis. <br /> <br />Those cancer cells can then multiply and spread throughout the body. <br /> <br />That means that stopping anastasis could provide more effective cancer treatments, according to the researchers. <br /> <br />However, in some cases, such as saving heart cells after a heart attack or brain cells after a stroke, provoking anastasis may be beneficial. <br /> <br />Scientists still don’t know how anastasis works, which means this kind of cancer research is still very much in its infancy.
