A gene that appears to help regulate normal embryonic development is found at high levels in virtually all forms of breast cancer, according to a new study led by Laszlo Radvanyi, Ph.D., associate professor of breast and melanoma medical oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The finding, published in the Aug. 2, 2005, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and available on-line July 25, shows that the gene, normally made in small amounts in normal breast tissue, somehow becomes over-expressed in breast cancer cells. Researchers hope to use the cancer-specific protein to train the immune system to specifically attack breast cancer cells.
