Early animal research into blocking breast cancer

"'An injection that prevents breast cancer is being developed by scientists," is the news on the Mail Online website. This news seems a heartening way to start the year, but a caveat is that the research is in the very early stages – as yet only tested in mice. The researchers were interested in a type of breast cancer known as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). In DCIS the cancerous cells are contained within the ducts in the breast, and not spread to other breast tissue. The problem with DCIS is that it is currently impossible to predict whether the cancer will remain inside the duct (so will not require treatment) or become invasive and spread into other parts of the breast. This means that some women with DCIS will undergo invasive treatment unnecessarily. This research involved genetically engineered mice designed to develop DCIS-like tumours that eventually spread. They found that a gene called Hox1A seemed to be involved in stimulating the growth of the DCIS-like tumours. They then went on to use an injection of specially designed nanoparticles into the mammary tissue, designed to "turn-off" the Hox1A gene. They found that the injection stopped three-quarters of the mice from developing tumours at 21 weeks. However, the researchers don’t yet know if the tumours might develop later in these mice, or are stopped completely. These findings are definitely worth more investigation, but, as yet, implications for human breast cancer prevention or tre...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Source Type: news