Scientists uncover navigation system used by cancer, nerve cells. Duke Today, August 25, 2014. Researchers have identified a ‘roving detection system’ on the surface of cells that may point to new ways of treating diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study sheds light on the molecular mechanisms that enable both normal and cancerous cells to break through normal tissue boundaries and burrow into other tissues and organs.