New Organ Has Just Been Discovered In The Human Body After Scientists Had Missed It For Thousands Of Years

By Sughra Hafeez in Science and Technology On 3rd April 2018

The interstitium

The NYU-led team says they found a new organ 'interstitium' which hasn’t been identified until now and may even be one of the largest in the body.

Spreading cancer

The interstitium is interconnected compartments that act like a series of spaces a highway of moving the fluid. The interstitium has the unfortunate side effect of spreading cancer around the body.

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Structure and Distribution of an Unrecognized Interstitium in Human Tissues

According to a study published in Scientific Reports researcher explained:

"Fluid-filled spaces and collagen bundles lined by cells staining for CD34 are seen on histology in multiple organs and tissues, including in the submucosa of the entire digestive tract, the urinary bladder, peribronchial tissue, fascia, and stroma of arteries and veins of all sizes."

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Shock absorber

While searching for cancer signs in patient's bile duct Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center medics Dr. David Carr-Locke and Dr. Petros Benias came across the interstitium which acts as a shock absorber where tissues are moved or subjected to force. Thirteen patients participate in this study between July 2012 and Dec 2013. The study was conducted with the approval of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center) Institutional Review Board (IRB).

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NYU Langone Health co-senior author Neil Theise, MD, says:

"This fixation artifact of collapse has made a fluid-filled tissue type throughout the body appear solid in biopsy slides for decades, and our results correct for this to expand the anatomy of most tissues."

Implications for future cancer research

The researcher says the discovery of the fluid 'highway' could help to explain how cancer cells can travel through these spaces to attack our lymph nodes and it could have huge implications for future cancer research.

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Dr. Neil Theise said:

"We have never understood the mechanism of how that happens, Now we have the ability. If we figure out the mechanism, we can figure out how to interfere with it."

Neil theise shared the news on Twitter, he wrote: ‏

"We discovered a new human organ! Comprising the submucosae of all visceral organs, the whole dermis, all perivascular connective tissue, and all fascia Maybe the largest organ by volume (~10 liters). & no one had ever seen it before!"

According to Dr. Theise:

"This finding has potential to drive dramatic advances in medicine, including the possibility that the direct sampling of interstitial fluid may become a powerful diagnostic tool."

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A lot of people talking about the new discovery on Twitter.

"Oh great, a new thing to WebMD at midnight."

"It's 2018 and they've just found a new organ in the human body."

"Hopefully, someday we will also get to meet a human's Heart, undiscovered in most of Homo sapiens."

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"If we could cure cancer. Then... Well, I don't know. But this will help people who have cancer. Can't believe that they haven't found it before."

"Pretty cool. I can't wait for more research to come out on this."

"Crazy that it is a new discovery! Fascinating. I can't wait to tell my pupils."

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"Dear scientists, Is it too late to change the name into something else?"

"Amazing... Maybe this discovery can lead to a new treatment for cancer or similar!"

"How did they miss this organ before?! Love that this could explain the miracles of acupuncture!"

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"Everything seems to be changing these days with new technology"

"Could this also help us better understand and figure out how to contain cancer cells and stop it from spreading?