Breast Cancer Research and Treatment

Scientists in the UK at the Institute of Cancer Research have discovered that an enzyme may be responsible for the spread of breast cancer to other organs.

Extract from:- http://www.icr.ac.uk/press/press_archive/press_releases_2011/17366.shtml

The researchers found that the enzyme lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) is needed for tumour cells to escape from the breast and invade surrounding tissue, thereby allowing cancer cells to travel to distant organs. They showed that LOXL2 promotes this process by controlling the amounts of molecules called TIMP1 and MMP9, which have previously been shown to play important roles in allowing cancer to spread.

Importantly, using laboratory models, the team showed that blocking the function of LOXL2 decreased the spread of the cancer from the breast to the lungs, liver and bone. These findings confirm that a drug designed to block LOXL2 could be used to treat women with advanced breast cancer.


Lead researcher Dr Janine Erler from the ICR says: ?Around 12,000 women die from breast cancer in the UK each year, most because their cancer has spread to other parts of their body. Our study shows that inhibiting the action of LOXL2 can significantly reduce the spread of breast cancer, suggesting that drugs which block this enzyme may be effective in preventing patients? cancer from spreading.?

The spread of cancer is known as metastasis. Metastatic breast cancer is a complex multi-step process involving the expansion of cancerous cells from the breast to other areas of the body. Once metastases are detected in a patient with breast cancer, median survival is less than two years. It is therefore imperative to develop new therapies to treat patients with highly aggressive breast cancer.


The following article written specially for this site gives some general facts about cancer specific to women.