Breast Cancer Research Uncovers How To Target Sleeping Cells And Prevent Relapse
NDTV
The study has been published in the journal Cancer Discovery. It looked at the role of an enzyme known as G9a.
A breakthrough in breast cancer research has seen scientists discover how to kill "hibernating" tumour cells. It paves the way for new treatment that would prevent the cancer from returning. According to Sky News, the objective of the study was to find out why breast cancer returns years after initial treatment. They discovered that hormone therapies, used to prevent breast cancer from recurring, can trigger changes in some cells. These changes cause the cells to lie dormant instead of dying off and they wake up years later, causing a relapse.
It offers new hope for patients with oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, which grows in response to the hormone oestrogen.
ER+ makes up 80 per cent of all breast cancers, of which 55,500 cases are diagnosed in the UK every year.
