It’s a discovery that could lead to treatments capable of containing the spread of cancer in the body.

Researchers have found a critical element that may explain why some cancers spread farther and faster than others.

Scientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a protein that seems to serve as a switch.

ROR1 appears to regulate the spread of cancer from the primary tumor to distant spots in the body, known as metastasis.

After cardiovascular disease, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States.

About 90-per cent of these cancer-related deaths are due to metastasis of the original tumor cells.

The research is published in the journal Cancer Research.