Possible drug target found for one of the most aggressive breast cancers
Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) investigators have identified a gene that could be an important therapeutic target in the treatment of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. Currently, patients with these cancers have few treatment options. "Breast cancer mortality rates are actually declining, but the cancers that don't respond to traditional treatments tend to be more aggressive and have decreased survival rates," said VARI Research Scientist Carrie Graveel, Ph.D., lead author of the study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.
Researchers found that the Met gene may play a critical role in the development of an aggressive form of breast cancer known as basal breast cancer.
"Met has already been associated with decreased survival in breast cancer, but this study identifies its importance in specific types that can be distinguished at the molecular level," said VARI Distinguished Scientific Fellow George Vande Woude, Ph.D., who heads the laboratory that conducted the research.
In the 1980's, Dr. Vande Woude's laboratory at the National Cancer Institute demonstrated that inappropriate levels of Met occur in human tumors, and that cells with inappropriate Met signaling dramatically impact the spread of cancer. This signaling is implicated in most types of human cancers and high Met expression often correlates with poor prognosis.
"We found Met in the majority of breast cancers," said VARI Research Technician Jack DeGroot, another of the study's authors. "But levels were highest in aggressive types, making Met a promising drug target that could help patients that currently have few treatment options."
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancers account for more than one in four cancers diagnosed in women in the United States. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 40,170 women in the U.S. will die from breast cancer in 2009.
"This very exciting work by the Van Andel Research Institute gives us a new target for treatment of patients with one of the worst types of breast cancer — basal breast cancer," said Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff, Physician-in Chief of the Translational Genomic Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, which initiated an alliance with Van Andel Institute in February. "Since there are many new inhibitors of Met available for clinical trials, we now have a direct route for immediate application of these important findings in the care of patients with this very aggressive form of breast cancer."
Source: Van Andel Research Institute
Other sources
- Study: Many With Breast Cancer Overtreatedfrom CBSNews - Science15 years ago
- Breast cancer screening results in huge over-diagnosisfrom The Guardian - Science15 years ago
- Study: 1 in 3 breast cancer patients overtreatedfrom AP Health15 years ago
- Genetic Key To Breast Cancer's Ability To Survive And Spread Identifiedfrom Science Daily15 years ago
- Link between migraines and reduced breast cancer risk confirmed in follow-up studyfrom Physorg15 years ago
- Link between migraines and reduced breast cancer risk confirmed in follow-up studyfrom Science Blog15 years ago
- Possible Drug Target Found For One Of The Most Aggressive Breast Cancersfrom Science Daily15 years ago
- Possible drug target found for one of the most aggressive breast cancersfrom Physorg15 years ago
- Metabolic Factors May Play A Role In Risk For Breast Cancerfrom Science Daily15 years ago
- New MRI Technique Could Mean Fewer Breast Biopsies In High-risk Womenfrom Science Daily15 years ago
- Newly Appreciated Membrane Estrogen Receptor Important Therapeutic Target For Breast Cancerfrom Science Daily15 years ago
- Elderly Breast Cancer Patients Receive Chemotherapy If Treated In Private Practicesfrom Science Daily15 years ago
- Elderly breast cancer patients receive chemotherapy if treated in private practicesfrom Physorg15 years ago