A gene discovery may lead to new treatments for one of the deadliest forms of breast cancer, British researchers have reported.
The newly discovered gene lies behind triple negative breast cancer, which affects about 20% of breast cancer patients and cannot be treated with hormone therapies.
Researchers found the BCL11A gene is highly active in patients with this kind of cancer.
The study, reported in Nature Communications, involved nearly 3,000 patients and researchers searched for genes affecting the behaviour of stem cells.
The researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK, found in laboratory studies that increasing activity of the gene increased “cancer-like behaviour.”
Professor Carlos Caldas, professor of cancer medicine at Cambridge University, said: “This exciting result identifies a novel breast cancer gene in some of the more difficult-to-treat cases.
“Finding a novel gene that is active in cancer should also help in the search for new treatments.”
Khaled, WT, Lee SC et al. BLC11A is a triple-negative breast cancer gene with critical functions in stem and progenitor cells. Nature Communications 9 January 2015; doi: 10.1038/ncomms6987
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