Gene Discovery Raises Breast Cancer Hopes

Targeted therapy may prevent lethal spread, researchers say

By Ambreen Ali, Newser User

Posted Jan 6, 2009 5:01 PM CST

(Newser) – Researchers have singled out a gene that spreads breast cancer and makes it chemo-resistant, raising the prospect of drug therapy that localizes the disease and improves survival rates, the Baltimore Sun reports. Scientists believe that metadherin, or MTDH—found in 40% of the breast cancer patients studied—makes tumor cells sticky so they latch onto blood vessels in distant organs.

If the finding holds up, drugs can be developed to target the gene. The discovery is potentially important because localized breast cancer rarely kills. But when it spreads throughout the body, survival rates go down significantly. A cancer researcher praised the work but added a note of caution. "Biology tends to be more complicated in the body than it is in the laboratory," he said.

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A doctor examines a breast cancer patient. MTDH may be the crucial gene that spreads breast cancer to other organs. (Shutter stock)

An x-ray from a mammography is shown here. A new study singles out a gene that helps spread cancer. (Shutter stock)

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What this tells us is we can really focus on this one gene. I will be betting this one will be a major target. - Dr. Yibin Kang, the study's author and a Princeton University molecular biologist

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Gene Discovery Raises Breast Cancer Hopes