MONDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- New findings by researchers
suggest breast cancer may arise from stem cells and that targeting
a certain gene linked to these cells may be a key to treatment.
Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center report
that the Musashi1 (Msi1) gene can flip open two known cancer
pathways in mammary cells. The gene had been shown in previous
studies to be a stem cell marker in several parts of the body.
The findings were expected to be presented April 14 at the
annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research
(AACR) in San Diego.
"This is the first time any role has been attributed to this
gene, and it turns out to be one that is surprisingly powerful,"
study lead author, Xiaoyang Wang, a postdoctoral fellow at
Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in a
prepared statement.
The study, done in a laboratory setting, shows the Msi1 gene
regulates cell signaling in two mammary cells pathways -- Wnt and
Notch. Both pathways help regulate stem cell growth, and past
studies have tabbed them as critical players in the development of
many cancers.
The researchers work also uncovered that Msi1 is expressed in
particularly aggressive tumors. This finding fuels a debate among
cancer researchers following recent studies indicating stem cells
may be the root cause of some cancers.
"It is really critical to understand if stem cells are involved
in cancer development, because a lot of therapies used to treat
cancer don't target stem cells," study senior author Robert Glazer,
a Georgetown professor of oncology and pharmacology, said in a
prepared statement. "That may explain why tumors come back."
Wang concluded: "This work suggests, but does not prove, that
stem cells drive breast cancer formation. Msi1 might make a good
therapeutic target, and we are currently testing ways to interfere
with its function in cells to see if it disrupts cancer cell
proliferation."
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about
breast cancer.
