One of the typical misfortunes that occur in cancer patients is that the disease can spread throughout the body if not caught in time. Many physicians have noticed that one of the most common organs for the disease to spread is the liver.

A new study is suggesting there may be a therapeutic way to stop cancer from spreading to the liver, according to the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. Scientists have found that if the immune suppressive cells in the liver are treated during the early stages of the disease, cancer metastases may not occur.

The researchers were happy with this discovery, noting that up until recently, physicians did not know that the immune system played a role in how cancer spread to the liver.

“Physicians have known that the spread of cancer to the liver is far too common to occur by chance,” said Luis Montaner, editor-in-chief of the journal. “Now we know that the immune system likely plays a role in facilitating this process. The next step, obviously, is to learn more so we can prevent it from happening.”