Back in April we launched this year’s breast cancer research image competition. The competition was open to anyone affiliated with a research institution or hospital and entrants were asked to submit images that describe some aspect of breast cancer research, with categories ranging from images taken down the microscope, computer generated creations and life in the lab or clinic.

感谢所有进入的人。对于乳腺癌现在的科学咨询委员会而言，选择整体获胜者并不是一件容易的事，而且有一些非常令人惊叹的条目。

We’d like to say a huge congratulations to the Overall Winner, Ansel Lim and the Supporters’ Choice Winner Sarah Boyle.

Overall Winner – Rainbow Kaleidoscope by Ansel Lim

About the image:这张令人惊叹的图像展示了最具侵略性类型的乳腺癌之一的不知情的同谋。我们称之为“ M2巨噬细胞”是该患者标本中的中心舞台。这就是您在这款彩色染色的幻灯片中间看到的红色和绿色细胞，漫无目的地漂浮在一千个捍卫免疫细胞的海洋中。我们将其识别为彩虹的颜色。这种“特殊的雪花”位于一场史诗般的战斗的十字路口，一次是外星癌细胞和一个与这些入侵者作斗争的免疫细胞营之间的。这位士兵是一匹特洛伊木马。它应该一直在与敌人作斗争，而是被劫持了。阴谋！它通过复杂的信号网络操纵，现在对敌人有效。它促进了癌症的增长，因为它侵入了我们身体的其他部位。 But its attempt at subverting our body is no longer a secret. We can see the cell in plain sight. It can hide no longer from our microscopes. Empowered by the latest technology, doctors and biologists at our hospital work hand in hand to unravel the mysteries of the M2 macrophage.

Supporters’ Choice Winner – Neoplastic Petals by Sarah Boyle

About the image:This is an image of the early stages of cancer within a mammary gland of a genetically-engineered mouse. The green colour labels a protein that is involved in controlling cell movement. As the tumour grows, cells begin to become more mobile, which can lead to cancer spread. Junctions between cells are labelled in blue and cell nuclei in red.

Other images we liked

Sophie Roberts, University of Leeds

The image shows breast cancer cells that have been cultured in 3D. By culturing them in 3D they more realistically mimic the characteristics of a human breast tumour. The cells are coloured using a stain which stains cells that are alive green and those that are dead in red. It is hoped that by creating a 3D model of breast cancer the use of animals in preclinical drug testing can be reduced.

Matthew Humphries, Univerity of Leeds

The image is a confocal 2D capture of male breast cancer associated fibroblasts stained with MMP9 (red), B-Actin (green) and DAPI (blue).

Sodium current traces by Theresa Leslie, University of York

Breast cancer cells are electrically active, and they may use this property to communicate with their environment and invade into different areas of the body. Ions can flow through channels in the cell membrane, causing tiny electrical currents. Drugs can target these ion channels to control the electrical signals in cancer cells and this may reduce the spread of cancer. The electrical current across a single cell membrane can be recorded in real time using microscopic glass electrodes and very sensitive amplifiers. Drugs can be added to the cells during recording to assess their effect on the cancer cells. This is an example of some sodium currents in a breast cancer cell. We are also investigating ion channels in live tissue from patients, provided by Breast Cancer Now.

All images have been released under a Creative Commons Attribution License (cc by), so everyone is welcome and encouraged to share them freely, while attributing the image author.