Newly Discovered 'Organ' In Human Body May Explain How Cancers Spread

The newly found interstitium layer consists of body cells collagen bundles

The newly found interstitium layer consists of body cells collagen bundles

Layers within the human body previously believed to be dense, connective tissues have now been identified as an organ, according to a new study that could help scientists understand the spread of cancer within the body.

More than half of this is found within the cells, and another seventh inside the heart, blood vessels, lymph nodes, and lymph vessels.

"We think they act as shock absorbers", Theise said, in New Scientist.

It's long remained undetected due to dependence the field's dependence on the examination of fixed tissue on microscopic slides, according to the researhcers. When scientists prepare tissue samples for these slides, they treat the samples with chemicals, cut them into thin slices and dye them to highlight key features.

This fluid layer that surrounds most organs may explain why cancer spreads so easily.

The findings are based on a newer technology known as probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy, which combines the slim, camera-carrying probe traditionally snaked down a patient's throat to view the insides of organs with a laser that illuminates tissues and sensors that analyze the reflected patterns. But the new finding reveals that, rather than a "wall", this tissue is more like an "open, fluid-filled highway", said co-senior study author Dr. Neil Theise, a professor of pathology at New York University Langone School of Medicine.

Researchers could see tiny cracks in the tissue under the microscope, but they thought those cracks happened when the tissue was pulled too hard as it was loaded onto slides.

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Theise carried out the same procedure on himself, inspecting the skin under his own nose, and discovered similar results, which suggested the patterns are made up of fluid found throughout the body.

One team performing an endoscopy expected to find a certain type of tissue surrounding the bile ducts, which are sort of like drainage pipes that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder and from the gallbladder to the small intestine.

However, the fixing process causes fluid loss and collapse of the previously fluid-filled compartments, the researchers explained. "This finding has potential to drive dramatic advances in medicine, including the possibility that the direct sampling of interstitial fluid may become a powerful diagnostic tool", Theise said. Before the pancreas and the bile duct were removed, patients underwent confocal microscopy for live tissue imaging.

Theise wrote that the discovery of the organ could lead to new ways of detecting cancer or other diseases. The cells lining the space are also atypical, potentially responsible for creating the supporting collagen bundles around them, according to the team. "But these were not artifacts", Theise said.

Another scientist involved in the study was first author Rebecca Wells of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who determined that the skeleton in the newfound structure was comprised of collagen and elastin bundles.

This work was funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (DK081523).

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