Breast cancer is one of the most common and serious forms of cancer for women. Almost 23 percent of all cancer cases affect the breasts, and 14 percent of all deaths from cancer in women are due to breast cancer. Even when treated, it can lead to all kinds of other health concerns.
A breakthrough study may now lead to new treatments for all stages of breast cancer and be able to provide a new route to wellness and wellbeing for sufferers. This study has shown that the protein in the human body that promotes the production of breast milk may also be linked to the development of breast cancer, particularly in its most aggressive form.
This protein, known as ELF5, when exposed to breast cancer cells, seems to make the breast cancer cells become more aggressive. Whereas normally breast cells would respond to the protein by producing milk, cancer cells cannot produce milk and instead their response is to become more aggressive and to be far more difficult to treat.
In order to carry out the study, the researchers had to grow human breast cancer tissue and genetically engineer it to contain high levels of ELF5 and then examine the effects of the cells under close conditions.
It was also shown that cancers which contained high levels of oestrogen (typically thought of as being linked to breast cancer) contained lower levels of ELF5, suggesting that the traditional chemotherapy and radiation therapies used in these cases may not be suitable when high levels of ELF5 are present.
This suggests that alternative treatments could be developed for these forms of breast cancer, specifically ones that involve using an ELF blocker to rid the body of ELF5 levels and, through this, stop the aggressive growth of tumours.
Comments are closed.