Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jan 09, 2026 16 hours, 45 minutes ago
Medical News: A Hidden Protein Moves to Center Stage in Oncology
A major new scientific review by South Korean researchers from Gachon University’s Department of Health Sciences and Technology, the College of BioNano Technology at Gachon University, and the Department of Life Sciences at Gachon University reveals that a little-known molecule called BST2 (Bone marrow stromal antigen 2) may be one of the most dangerous forces helping cancers grow, spread, and evade the immune system. This
Medical News report outlines how something once considered a simple antiviral protein has now emerged as a key driver across a wide family of cancers.
Scientists uncover how rising BST2 protein levels help tumors spread and evade the immune system
From Virus Fighter to Cancer Weapon
BST2 was first recognized as a protein that prevents viruses from leaving an infected cell. Scientists have now discovered that the same ability to anchor objects to cell surfaces gives cancer cells surprising advantages. BST2 is highly elevated in many tumors, particularly stomach, breast, cervical, pancreatic, thyroid, endometrial, nasopharyngeal, bladder, colorectal, glioblastoma, and oral cancers. Researchers also report unusually high BST2 levels in metastatic brain and bone lesions and in small particles released into the bloodstream known as extracellular vesicles.
How BST2 Fuels Tumor Growth
The new findings show that cancers turn up the production of BST2 using multiple tricks. DNA regions that normally keep the BST2 gene quiet become demethylated, flipping the gene into permanent “on” mode. Tumors also recruit transcription factors that push BST2 output even higher. Once BST2 floods the cells, it sparks aggressive signaling pathways that help tumors survive and multiply rapidly.
BST2 protects cancer cells from death when they detach from tissue, allowing them to float freely through the bloodstream. It also enables them to burrow into new organs and set up metastases. In drug resistant cancers, BST2 blocks chemotherapy-triggered cell death and strengthens the same molecular pathways that support cancer stem-like behavior.
Sabotaging The Immune System
The review stresses that BST2 is especially dangerous because it interferes directly with the body’s defenses. Tumors enriched with BST2 attract immune suppressive cells and weaken dendritic cells and T cells that normally kill cancer. BST2 also shields cancer cells from natural killer cell destruction by reinforcing the membrane and stabilizing cell structure.
Even worse, extracellular vesicles studded with BST2 appear to act as messengers that condition distant tissues for future metastasis, a finding that raises concern for cancer spread long before tumors are detected.
A New Target for Treatment
Fortunately, the same features that make BST2 harmful could soon make it vulnerable. Experiments using BST2-targeting antibodies, toxin-linked antibody drugs, designer immune cells, and sh
ort peptide blockers all show encouraging results in laboratory models. Early data suggest combining BST2 blockers with immune stimulants could dramatically boost the body’s cancer-killing ability.
Conclusion
BST2 has evolved from an obscure antiviral protein into one of cancer’s most versatile allies, helping tumors multiply, migrate, hide from immunity, and resist therapy. Because BST2 appears across many different cancer types and is crucial to both tumor survival and immune escape, it represents a promising target for a new wave of therapies, biomarkers, and possibly early detection strategies. If future clinical trials confirm its importance, blocking BST2 could become a backbone treatment approach for a wide range of aggressive human cancers.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Biomedicines.
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/14/1/131
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