Originally published August 2 2005
Scientists find possible new target for breast cancer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Scientists have found that a gene that can be located in 90 percent of breast cancer might lead to new treatments for the disease.
Researchers hope to use the cancer-specific protein to train the immune system to specifically attack breast cancer cells.
"There is a tremendous need for new molecular targets to treat breast cancer," Radvanyi says.
Radvanyi and his collaborators at Sanofi Pasteur, Toronto, Canada, zeroed in on the gene, called TRPS-1, after an exhaustive search for targets that are found at higher levels in breast cancer than in normal tissue.
The researchers compared the gene levels of more than 50,000 known genes in 54 breast cancer specimens and 289 normal samples representing 75 tissues or organs.
The breast cancer specimens included 10 examples of early breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), 38 locally invasive breast cancers and six representing metastatic disease.
"We were interested in identifying proteins that could be potential tumor antigens activating cytotoxic T-cells or tumor killer cells," Radvanyi says.
The scientists don't yet know what the TRPS-1 protein is doing during the development of breast cancer, but they have started gathering clues to its role.
Scientists at other institutions have shown TRPS-1 is a DNA-binding protein that regulates how other proteins get produced.
It also appears to be involved in recognition of steroids such as estrogen.
Radvanyi speculates that the protein may help regulate cell growth and perhaps estrogen recognition.
The success of the breast cancer drug Herceptin, an antibody that specifically attacks breast cancer cells in which the Her2/neu gene is active, has made immunotherapy an attractive option for treating breast cancer.
However, only about one-third of breast cancer patients are candidates for Herceptin treatment.
Radvanyi's technique does not use antibodies, but instead attempts to get powerful immune system cells called T-cells to attack the cancer cells.
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