Key cancer protein discovered that could stop the disease spreading through the body

By DAVID DERBYSHIRE

Last updated at 00:44 28 December 2007


breast cancer

A discovery about the way cancer spreads through the body could pave the way for lifesaving drugs, scientists said yesterday.

They have identified a natural protein that keeps cancer cells "anchored" in position, stopping them creating potentially-deadly secondary tumours elsewhere.

Mimicking the action of the substance could form the basis of new cancer treatments, they said.

The researchers warned however that any proposed drugs were still many years away from going into production.

Metastasis - the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another - is the main reason why the disease can be so difficult to treat.

The new study - by Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute - looked at the complex interplay of two proteins involved in metastasis. One, called mena, is found in excessive amounts in tumours and helps cancer cells to migrate.

The other, called tes, stops the spread of cancer by

attaching itself to the mena protein and preventing cells 'crawling away'.

In many cases the much larger quantities of mena overwhelm the tes protein which is then unable to prevent the spread of the disease.

The scientists say they can use their understanding of the way the two proteins work to create drugs that imitate their actions. Dr Lesley Walker, director of science information at Cancer Research UK, said: "Cancer cells use many complex processes when they break away from their tumour and spread to other areas of the body.

"Understanding these mechanisms and increasing our knowledge about this protein can hopefully help us to develop more effective cancer treatments in the future."

The study is published today in the journal Molecular Cell.

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