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Anti-cancer drug a step closer
Source: Agencies |
January 7, 2009, Wednesday
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A SINGLE gene appears to play a crucial role in deadly breast cancers, increasing the chances the cancer will spread and making it resistant to chemotherapy, according to the latest research in the United States.
They found people with aggressive breast cancers have abnormal genetic alterations in a gene called MTDH, and drugs that block the gene could keep local tumors from metastasizing or spreading, increasing a woman's chances for survival.
"Not only has a new metastasis gene been identified, but this also is one of a few such genes for which the exact mode of action has been elucidated," said Dr Michael Reiss of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, whose study appears in the journal Cancer Cell.
"That gives us a real shot at developing a drug that will inhibit metastasis," he said.
Stopping cancer's spread is important - while more than 98 percent of patients with breast cancer that has not spread live five years or more, only 27 percent of patients whose cancer has spread to other organs survive.
Reiss and Yibin Kang of Princeton University used several different research approaches to find the gene, which helps tumor cells stick to blood vessels in distant organs.
Kang said he was hopeful the finding will lead to drugs that not only keep breast cancer from spreading, but also make it more responsive to treatment.
"If we have a drug to inhibit this type of gene, one stone hits two birds," Kang said.
He said MTDH may also play a role in other types of cancers, including prostate cancer.
Kang said he thinks it would be possible to develop an antibody to neutralize the activity of the gene. Already, it has gained the attention of drug makers. Kang said he plans to meet Johnson & Johnson next week. "I'm quite optimistic we will try to develop a drug as quickly as possible," he said.
They found people with aggressive breast cancers have abnormal genetic alterations in a gene called MTDH, and drugs that block the gene could keep local tumors from metastasizing or spreading, increasing a woman's chances for survival.
"Not only has a new metastasis gene been identified, but this also is one of a few such genes for which the exact mode of action has been elucidated," said Dr Michael Reiss of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, whose study appears in the journal Cancer Cell.
"That gives us a real shot at developing a drug that will inhibit metastasis," he said.
Stopping cancer's spread is important - while more than 98 percent of patients with breast cancer that has not spread live five years or more, only 27 percent of patients whose cancer has spread to other organs survive.
Reiss and Yibin Kang of Princeton University used several different research approaches to find the gene, which helps tumor cells stick to blood vessels in distant organs.
Kang said he was hopeful the finding will lead to drugs that not only keep breast cancer from spreading, but also make it more responsive to treatment.
"If we have a drug to inhibit this type of gene, one stone hits two birds," Kang said.
He said MTDH may also play a role in other types of cancers, including prostate cancer.
Kang said he thinks it would be possible to develop an antibody to neutralize the activity of the gene. Already, it has gained the attention of drug makers. Kang said he plans to meet Johnson & Johnson next week. "I'm quite optimistic we will try to develop a drug as quickly as possible," he said.
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