Study of tumor environment is first to show how vesicles are exchanged in tissue

A new study may change the way scientists think about the distance traveled by tiny bubbles carrying signals between cells that are embedded in tissue. These particles, called extracellular vesicles, are known to safely carry signaling cargo as a communication method between cells in bodily fluids and within tissue, and to influence health and disease. Understanding how the properties of these vesicles differ in normal versus diseased tissue could make them outstanding biomarkers for early disease detection, researchers say.