Scientists Stop Genes that Help Breast Cancer to Spread

US scientists have demonstrated a way to stop breast cancer spreading to other parts of the body by either switching off the genes involved or blocking them with drugs. Tumours formed from cancer that has spread or metastased from the primary site to other parts of the body cause 90 per cent of cancer deaths. The process of metastasis or cancer spread is still much of a mystery to scientists. They can't tell the difference between a tumour that won't spread and one that will. And why, when hundreds of tumour cells get into the bloodstream every day, do only a small number of them take up residence in a new site and start multiplying? Dr Joan Massagué from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, US, has been working in this field for some time. He and his team have been looking at cell regulation and how it helps cancer cells to spread to specific tissues... Whole article "www.medicalnewstoday.com":[ www.medicalnewstoday.com]

---

Related articles

Gene cancer tests 'need review' - Decisions over who to test for a high-risk breast cancer gene should not be made solely on the basis of family history, US research suggests (21.6.2007)

Breast cancer in a test tube - UK researchers have developed a three-dimensional model of human breast cancer in the laboratory (10.5.2007)

Important cause of breast cancer found - Researchers of the University Hospital, Basel and the Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital have discovered an important cause of the onset of breast cancer (24.4.2007)

Cheap molecule may attack tumors - A cheaply-produced molecule may be the key to treating a variety of cancers, claim Canadian researchers (23.4.2007)

Genes Associated With Adverse Reactions To Cancer Radiotherapy Treatment Identified - Medical scientists at the University of Leicester have announced a potentially unique advance in breast cancer research by identifying two genes associated with adverse reaction to cancer treatment (21.4.2007)