Genes Play a Role in Breast Cancer Spreading
Reported July 09, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Your genetic make-up may determine whether or not cancer cells will spread, even years after treatment.
A recent study has uncovered the genetic function that allows breast cancer cells to survive and spread to the bone even years after treatment. Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) found breast cancer cells that get into bone marrow can survive over time if they contain the gene product Src, which has been known to impact cell mobility, invasion and survival.
Researchers found genetically disabling Src activity in human breast cancer cells prevents them from surviving in the mice’s bone marrow and spreading. The drug dasatinib was shown to stop the cancer cells from spreading to bone in those mice injected with human breast cancer cells.
According to study researchers, breast tumors may shed cancer cells that can then infiltrate vital organs, such as the bones, lungs and brain. The goal of chemotherapy is to rid the body of these residual cells, but metastasis may still occur. Nearly one-third of breast cancer relapse cases appear three or more years after the first diagnosis. Some cases can develop even a decade later.
“Our results should encourage oncologists to consider the study of Src inhibitors to attack reservoirs of disseminated, latent cancer cells and prevent metastasis in breast cancer patients after their tumor has been removed,” Joan Massague, Ph.D., Chair of the cancer biology and genetics program at MSKCC and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Cancer Cell, July 7, 2009