Causes intestinal cancer

VIENNA (EFE).— The plastic we ingest not only cannot be eliminated but spreads through cell division, which might even favor cancer metastasis, according to a study by Austrian universities published in the magazine “Chemosphere.” .

The work recalls that the intestinal tract is the main route of entry and exposure to micro- and nanoplastics (MNP), and analyzes the interaction between these substances and various types of cells that appear in colorectal tumors, a type of intestinal cancer.

Previous research estimated that regarding five grams of these substances are ingested each week, which is equivalent to the weight of a credit card.

The new study points out that particles smaller than a micrometer (one-thousandth of a millimeter) increase cell migration.

“Cells that absorb nanoplastic migrate differently and this can increase potential cancer cells from traveling to other organs and, therefore, increase metastasis,” explains Verena Pichler, a director of the study.

However, this work cannot confirm or rule out that the presence of MNP causes cancer progression, since exposure to plastics is a type of chronic poisoning that occurs over years and is difficult to measure.

However, Dr. Pichler points out, the results do seem to show that “there is a very potentiating effect, that the cancer spreads more quickly and, therefore, becomes more aggressive or invasive.”

This study indicates that, like other types of waste or foreign bodies, MNPs are absorbed by the cell’s lysosomes, an organelle that is responsible for “digesting” and eliminating these elements.

However, unlike waste of biological origin, such as viruses, bacteria or cell remains, microplastic does not decompose.

In fact, not only is the cell unable to eliminate MNPs, but these particles spread from one to another through cell division.

“Ingestion of MNPs does not slow cell proliferation or have an impact on cell division, but a cell passes MNPs to new cells during the division process, therefore it is not excreted, but rather remains within the body,” Pichler points out.

Regarding potential practical uses of these conclusions, Pichler acknowledges that studies are lacking and that the idea is very speculative, but that the same MNP expansion process might be applied to nanoparticles that integrated like a “Trojan horse” and transported a drug. inside the cell.

The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the University of Vienna, the University of Medicine of the Austrian capital and CMmed, a public-private research center, participated in the study.