A GROUP of scientists from Portugal and Israel have discovered a method of treating some of the most aggressive cases of breast cancer.
According to a study published in the online edition of the magazine Nature Cell Biology, the scientists have shown how a molecule called EGFR (Epidermis Growth Factor Receptor) interlinks with aggressive carcinomas.
Between 10 and 15 per cent of cancers diagnosed in the breast are of the aggressive carcinoma type.
“These results are extremely positive and show that we are very close to blocking the capacity for these tumours to metastasise, which, in turn, improves the survival rate of the patients,” say investigators working at laboratories at the University of Porto’s Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology.
Pilot study
Contrary to carcinomas which have oestrogen receptors and which respond to hormone therapy drugs such as Tamoxifen and Herceptin, these type of tumours do not have a defined target therapy.
“We know that, in these other cases, EGFR plays a major role but we don’t yet know quite how they are related with the aggressiveness of the carcinoma,” said Fernando Schmitt, one of the investigators.
However, when an EGFR inhibitor was used on 300 patients in a pilot study, the tumours reduced and the incidence of metastasis was greatly diminished.
In Portugal, 4,500 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year.
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