UK scientists say they have found a master switch that controls the spread of breast cancer around the body. It is a protein, called Brn-3b, which appears to feed the growth of certain breast tumours. The University College London team believe that turning off this switch could stop aggressive tumours, which do not respond to chemotherapy, spreading. The study, conducted with the help of experts at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital, appear in Cancer Research. In the UK, nearly 41,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and nearly 13,000 will die from the disease. Early detection and treatment improves the chance of survival. Experts already know that breast cancers with higher levels of a protein called HSP27 are especially fast-growing and more resistant to treatment than some other forms of breast cancer. The new research found that the switch Brn-3b makes cancer cells produce more HSP27. Researcher Dr Vishwanie Budhram-Mahadeo said: “Brn-3b boosts the invasiveness of cancer cells, and contributes to the deadly nature of this disease.
