Overlooked 'organ' could play role in the spread of cancer

PARIS - Thanks to a laser-equipped mini-microscope developed by a French startup, scientists have discovered a previously undetected feature of the human anatomy that could help explain why some cancers spread so quickly.

Nobody was looking for the interstitium, as the new quasiorgan is called, because no one knew it was there, at least not in complex form revealed in a study published this week.

As with many breakthroughs in medicine and science, it was - to paraphrase Louis Pasteur's oft-quoted dictum - a case of chance favoring the prepared.