Scientists claim discovery of a new organ in the human body

It may be time to re-examine the microanatomy of the human body.  After all these centuries, it’s surprising to fathom that a new organ of the human body may have just been discovered.  This is according to a new study in which scientists are saying that this new organ has been under our nose – or rather skin – all along.  Not only is this new organ just now being recognized but it is considered one of the largest in the human body and it could significantly advance the understanding of cancer and many other diseases.

Published in the journal of Scientific Reports, this new organ called the interstitium is a full-fledged organ. To qualify as an ‘organ,’ it needs to be made up of a group of tissues with a unique structure performing a specialized task, such as what the heart or liver does.  The interstitium, considered the shock-absorbing tissue underneath the skin, gut and blood vessels, is a network of dense connective tissues with fluid-filled compartments sort of like a fluid-filled highway.  Supported by a mesh of strong and flexible connective tissue proteins, the interstitium protects the organs, muscles, and vessels keeping the body alive by absorbing bumps and shocks. 

Over two-thirds of the human body is water, most of it contained inside cells. About 20 percent of the fluid in the body is “interstitial,” a Latin word combining “inter,” or “between,” and “sister,” or “to place” – literally, “between the other places.”

It is the fluid and tissues connecting them that are called the interstitium which is found just below the skin and in the digestive, respiratory and urinary systems.

At this time, the interstitium is not officially designated as an organ which needs to be determined by further research.  But if the research published is widely accepted, the interstitium could be regarded as the body’s 80th organ.

The excitement of this possible new discovery is that the interstitium could be particularly important in diagnosing and tracking the spread of cancers and other diseases that spread throughout the body.  Interstitial fluid is the source of lymph, which dispatches white blood cells, the body’s immune system infection fighters, to wherever they are needed.

Back in 2016, a federal panel of scientists believed that focusing on the immune system could be the key to finding highly effective treatments for cancer.  Since the interstitium is found throughout the body, it is hoped that new understanding of why cancer metastasizes to different areas of the body.  It could be because the fluid in the interstitium drains into the lymphatic system which plays a vital role in the immune system.  With this new discovery, we may be hearing much more about the interstitium in the near future. 

This new finding could mean big changes in the way doctors confront cancers and other deadly diseases. Once scientists gain a better understanding how cancerous tumors spread from one area of the body to another, they can start targeting parts of that process to inhibit tumor spread.  If doctors can learn to target this new organ, the opportunities could be endless.  This could lead to treatments for diseases that until now, have been a mystery on how to treat them.