Fri July 5, 2013  Can White Blood Cells Spread Cancer?
Originally published on Fri July 5, 2013 1:55 pm    This is
SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. White blood cells are part of
our body's defense system. Their job is to attack invaders, and
one of the first white blood cells sent out is the neutrophil.
These neutrophils put out a trap to capture and destroy the
invaders. But here's where it gets interesting, because in a new
study, researchers say they have shown that these nets might
actually activate and spread the cancer cells. It's the exact
opposite of what you want. But there may be a way to counteract
this problem.  Joining me now to talk about these findings is
Dr. Lorenzo Ferri. He's associate professor of surgery and
oncology at McGill University in Montreal, senior author in the
study that was published in the journal of clinical
investigation. Welcome to the program.  LORENZO FERRI: Oh, thank
you very much. My pleasure to be here.  FLATOW: Tell us about
this. What was the first clue that the whit