Carrie Bollwinkle honors her late mother Nancy, wearing a picture of her while talking with Heather Morris during the Koman Race for the Cure, in St. Louis on June 18, 2005. Over 60 thousand walkers and runners raised $2 million for breast cancer research. St. Louis is reportedly the second largest Race for the Cure site in the United States. (UPI Photo/Bill Greenblatt)

The discovery was made by Dr. Janusz Rak and colleagues at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center in collaboration with Dr. Ab Guha of the University of Toronto.

The researchers found cancer cells are able to communicate with their more healthy counterparts by releasing vesicles -- bubble-like structures containing cancer-causing proteins that can trigger specific mechanisms when they merge into non- or less-malignant cells.

Rak said the finding demonstrates that cancer is a multi-cell process, where the cells "talk" to one another extensively.

"This goes against the traditional view that a single 'mutated' cell will simply multiply uncontrollably to the point of forming a tumor," said Rak. "This discovery opens exciting new research avenues, but we also hope that it will lead to positive outcomes for patients."

The study appears in the online edition of the journal Nature Cell Biology.