A gene that spreads cancer is identified
January 13, 2009 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Health
A gene responsible for spreading breast cancer and making tumors resistant to chemotherapy has been identified by scientists from Princeton University.
The “metastasis gene” called Metadherin, or MTDH is turned on in 40% of breast cancer tumors. It is also found in 20% of prostate cancer patients studied. The gene helps spread cancer by making the tumor cells stick to blood vessels that bring them to distant areas of the body. MTDH also makes the tumors more resistant to chemotherapy drugs.
Discovering this gene helps scientist “hit two birds in one stone”, says senior author Dr. Yibin Kang to Newsday. “If you come up with a therapy that inhibits the gene, it could make the tumor more susceptible to chemotherapy and at the same time reduce the chance for a tumor to spread.”
The study appears in the January 6 2009 issue of Cancer Cell.
image credit: Newscom
