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CHICAGO: Researchers here discovered a protein that can reduce the
malignancy of breast cancer tumors and predict whether the cancer
will metastasize, according to a study published Monday.
“This protein seems to be suppressing tumor
growth,” said study author Kent Hunter of the National Cancer
Institute outside of Washington.
In studies on mice and in gene expression
profiles of human cancer cells, Hunter and his team found that they
could dramatically slow the growth of breast cancer tumors and
prevent the cancer from spreading.
They did this by inserting extra copies of the
gene that expresses the protein into the tumor, according to the
study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
While those tumors were not eliminated, they
grew to one-tenth of the size of those which had not been stimulated
to overproduce the protein.
They also had molecular profiles of
significantly less malignant tumors and did not spread.
“What we’re interested in is looking at how
this would be induced by other means, to find a drug that would turn
this gene on in tumors,” Hunter said. “That would reduce the
malignancy of the tumor and prolong survival.”
In the meantime, the presence, or lack thereof,
of this protein could be used to predict which patients are at risk
of metastasis, he said.
“We could hopefully spare those patients who
will not benefit [from] the rigors associated with adjuvant
therapy,” he explained.
-- AFP
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