Sandy Hutchens Cancer Prevention

UK scientists say they have discovered why some women fail respond to breast cancer treatment, and it is a gene error they believe they can fix.

Tamoxifen is given to most women diagnosed with breast cancer to prevent the cancer returning.

But not all women respond to the drug – experts estimate a third get no benefit.

The work in the journal Cancer Research suggests the problem is too much of a gene called FGFR1.

This discovery could lead to new treatments for these women as scientists “switch off” the action of FGFR1, enabling Tamoxifen to work.

The team of scientists in the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research have already shown this is possible in the lab.

They introduced a drug which “switched off” the action of FGFR1.

Once FGFR1 was stopped, hormone-based treatments like Tamoxifen could get back to work in destroying cancer cells, they found.

The researchers believe this could ultimately help thousands of women each year.

They say one in 10 breast cancer patients has too much of the FGFR1 gene.

Dr Nick Turner, who led the research, said: “Understanding how this gene can cause Tamoxifen resistance reveals a new drug target for treating breast cancers in patients who would otherwise have a poor outcome.

“There are a number of drugs in development that stop FGFR1 working, and clinical studies are investigating whether these drugs work against cancers with too many copies of this gene.

“The next step is to set up a clinical trial to see whether a drug that blocks the action of this gene can counteract hormone therapy resistance in breast cancer patients.

“If these trials confirm our lab work we could be on the verge of a potentially exciting new treatment for breast cancer.”

Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK, the charity which helped fund the work, said: “Cracking the problem of resistance to treatments such as Tamoxifen would be a major advance in treating breast cancer.”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK affecting more than 45,500 women each year.

Tamoxifen blocks the female sex hormone oestrogen that fuels the growth of some breast tumours.

Can Olive Oil Prevent Breast Cancer?

Ana Ripoll, Rector of Universitat Aut-noma de Barcelona (UAB), and Pedro Barato, President of “Organizaci-n Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva Espa-ol”, signed a research agreement to carry out an in depth study on how the intake of olive oil can work towards preventing and fighting against breast cancer. The Multidisciplinary Group on Breast Cancer Research (GMECM), directed by Dr Eduard Escrich, lecturer of the Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, will be working on this research project during the next five years. GMECM has demonstrated in previous researches that a moderate intake of virgin olive oil slows down the spreading of this cancer.

Researchers at GMECM aim to determine the possible activity of common components of the human diet with the objective of formulating scientific opinions on the health of the population or levels of risk, all within the field of breast cancer prevention. Among the results obtained until now researchers highlight the fact that a moderate intake of virgin olive oil can slow down the spreading of this cancer due to the action of mechanisms which counterattack the possible harmful effects of fats, while an excessive intake of seed oils has damaging effects.

In the study, which will begin this coming year, researchers will continue to study the effects olive oil can have on this type of cancer, with experimental studies and with human cell lines and samples. Among the research studies to be carried out, some of the most prominent focus on the effects fats and oils can have on mammary tumours, and especially those of extra virgin olive oil, and an analysis of the molecular changes found in these tumours in all of the genome and in the specific genes implicated in this pathology.

Olive oil lowers risk of breast cancer