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The most aggressive forms of breast cancer elude the cellular control mechanisms in order to expand

By 25 de November de 2010November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 25.11.2010

The most aggressive forms of breast cancer elude the cellular control mechanisms in order to expand

Scientists working in the Metastasis Laboratory (MetLab) at IRB Barcelona headed by ICREA researcher Roger Gomis –, based at The Barcelona Science Park–, have described the molecular mechanism that induces HER2+ tumours to ignore the signals that protect cells from excessive growth. The study is published this week in the specialized journal Cancer Research (DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-0869)

Certain external molecules bind to the Her family proteins, thus instructing the cell to divide. However, when cells have multiple copies of the Her2 gene, as is the case of HER2+ patients, they show uncontrolled division and do not respect the signals from their milieu. The prospects for HER2+ patients changed dramatically about ten years ago when the drug Herceptin came onto the market. This agent binds to Her2 to inhibit its proliferative activity, thereby leading to an improved prognosis and greater survival.