Researchers identify a new way to determine whether metastatic cancer cells in breast cancer patients are dormant or soon to turn deadly
In a latest breakthrough, an international team of scientists has discovered a protein biomarker than can predict whether a patient’s metastasized breast cancer is dormant or about to turn deadly.
The research will not only help doctors treat patients suffering from breast cancer better, but could also pave the way for new treatments. One of the options may be to stimulate dormancy in cancer cells before they metastasize.
Mount Sinai researchers have discovered the protein biomarker that can indicate whether a cancer patient will develop a reccurrence of lethal, metastatic cancer, according to a clinical study published in Breast Cancer Research.
Metastatic breast cancer (also called stage IV) is breast cancer that has spread to another part of the body, most commonly the liver, brain, bones, or lungs.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in India with an incidence rate of 25.8 per 100,000. It also has a very high mortality rate of about 12.7 per 100 000. The annual percentage increase in the incidence of breast cancer has been in the 0.46 to 2.56 per cent range
Cancer cells can break away from the original tumor in the breast and travel to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or the lymphatic system, which is a large network of nodes and vessels that works to remove bacteria, viruses, and cellular waste products.
Breast cancer can come back in another part of the body months or years after the original diagnosis and treatment. Nearly 30% of women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer will develop metastatic disease. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in India with an incidence rate of 25.8 per 100,000. It also has a very high mortality rate of about 12.7 per 100 000. The annual percentage increase in the incidence of breast cancer has been in the 0.46 to 2.56 per cent range.
Currently, doctors can test a patient’s bone marrow for residual disseminated tumor cells (DTCs), but these markers are not completely reliable in detecting how active the disease is. Around 60 percent of patients with identifiable DTCs have been found to remain relapse-free for up to five years or more.
The latest research set out to investigate what could be causing these metastatic DTCs to lay dormant for many years. The exciting revelation was that a specific protein, called NR2F1, seemed to be the key to modulating the activity of cancer cells. When a high volume of NR2F1 was found in the bone marrow cancer cells, the patients lived longer and the cancer remained dormant. If there was no or very little NR2F1 in the metastasized cancer cells then the cancer spread faster and the patient died sooner.
“This opens the way for testing new treatments that prevent metastasis by inducing dormancy or eradicating the dormant disseminated cancer cells that have not yet initiated metastatic growth,” says Aguirre-Ghiso on possible future research directions.
“This research shows that the survival advantage in these patients is due to high levels of this protein. Tests using this protein marker could further improve curative treatment of breast cancer, sparing patients from unnecessary treatments.” says lead researcher Julio Aguirre-Ghiso.
