New York, November 10 (IANS). A team of US researchers has developed a new genetic model for breast cancer that could help scientists understand why and where cancer spreads.
Professor Aaron Andracheck of Michigan State University in the US is researching the E2F5 gene and its role in the development of breast cancer.
Based on findings from Andracheck’s laboratory, it can be said that destruction of E2F5 alters the regulation of cyclin D1. Cyclin D1 is a protein associated with metastatic breast tumors after long latency.
The study, published in the journal Oncogene, also showed that deletion of E2F5 in the mammary gland leads to tumor formation.
As scientists better understand how genes affect breast cancer, they will also learn why cancer metastasizes and where cancer is likely to spread.
According to Andrechek, their mouse model is different from genetically engineered models. While genetically engineered mouse models can be artificially altered through injections to force cancer cells to migrate to organs such as the liver or brain, his lab’s newly created mouse model makes this unnecessary.
“One of the reasons why we’re so excited about this model is that it does something that most genetically engineered mouse models haven’t done before,” Andrechek said.
According to Andracheck, breast cancer most often spreads to the lymph nodes, bones or liver.
Andrechek’s laboratory uses genetic models as well as bioinformatics (using computer technology to capture and interpret biological data) to investigate the mechanisms involved in breast cancer development and progression.
Its research focuses on understanding breast tumor development and uses a variety of methods ranging from animal models to computational analysis of gene expression data.
Although breast cancer can occur at any age, most women are in their 60s or 70s when they are first diagnosed with the disease.
Andrechek’s research is physiologically relevant because it takes about two years for mice to develop tumors, which means mice are getting breast cancer at a similar age to women.
–IANS
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