Slipping past Cancer's barriers

Targeted capsules can find the disease even when it hides in biological bunkers. The current state of cancer treatment can tell researchers about how the disease operates, and why mass transport is such a key factor in cancer progression. Cancer specialists often do not even know where all the metastases are even in the body: Radiological imaging reveals some of them, but usually there are many more than can be detected. They may be just too small to be seen by the instruments at the time researchers run tests, but they will grow rapidly, sometimes in a matter of weeks. As a cancer patient undergoes treatment, the challenges often get worse. The cells that repopulate cancers after chemotherapy generally are the hardiest survivors. They have an enhanced ability to expel substances toxic to them through particularly effective pumps in their membranes that push out ions and molecules.