A common drug should help to tackle the lethal spread of breast cancer to the bones, researchers reported last night.
Researchers say biphosphonates, which are anti-osteoporosis drugs, may prevent the changes to the bones and the spread of disease.
So far the treatment has proved successful in laboratory mice.
The study was undertaken at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and involved scientists at the universities of Sheffield, UK, and Copenhagen, Denmark.
Some 12,000 people, mainly women, die from breast cancer in the UK annually, mainly from secondary cancers which spread through the bones.
The researchers pin-pointed the LOX enzyme – LysY1 Oxidase – as being crucial in making holes in the bone and preparing it for the arrival of cancer cells.
They suggest patients should be monitored for LOX activity – and this could be prevented by the use of biphosphonates.
The findings were reported last night in Nature.
Researcher Dr Alison Gartland, from Sheffield, said she was "really excited" by the results.
She said: "This is important progress in the fight against breast cancer metastasis and these findings could lead to new treatments to stop secondary breast tumours growing in the bone, increasing the chances of survival for thousands of patients."
The findings were welcomed by charities.
Katherine Woods, of the Breast Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "These results open up a whole new avenue for research and treatments that could stop breast cancer spreading to the bone.
"The research also adds weight to the growing body of evidence supporting the role of bisphosphonates in stopping secondary breast cancer in its tracks."
Nature 27 May 2015
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