A team of scientists from the University of Sheffield (England) and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) has managed to identify a possible key to metastasis in patients with breast cancer, after discovering an enzyme (lipoxygenase or LOX) that increases the spread of the disease . The study has been published in the journal Nature .
As scientists have discovered, this enzyme belonging to the group of oxidoreductases, allows patients with triple negative breast cancer to release the primary tumor, causing holes in the bone and preparing the arrival of cancer cells. Thus, blocking the activity of the enzyme could prevent both bone damage and the spread of tumor cells to bone, that is, metastasis, and also paralyze the progression of the disease.
The experiment, tested with laboratory mice, also revealed that treatment with bisphosphonate , a drug that prevents bone loss (and is used in the treatment of osteoporosis) was equally effective in preventing any bone change and the spread of the disease in rodents.
“This is an important advance in the fight against breast cancer metastasis and these findings could lead to new treatments to stop metastasis in breast cancer that grows in the bone, increasing the chances of survival for thousands of patients. ”Explains Alison Gartland, study co-author.
“ Once the cancer spreads to the bone it is very difficult to treat . Our research has shed light on how breast cancer cells prepare bone so that it is ready for arrival. If we were able to block this process and translate our work into clinical medicine, we could undoubtedly extend the lives of patients ”, clarifies Janine Erler, co-author of the study.
Scientists are convinced that by 2050 no woman will lose her life to breast cancer again .
