Sheffield: Leading scientists from the University of Sheffield and
University of Copenhagen have identified a possible key to preventing
secondary cancers in breast cancer patients, after discovering an enzyme
which enhances the spread of the disease. Secondary (metastatic) breast cancer is the main cause of the 12,000 deaths which occur from breast cancer in the UK every year. The most common site for the disease to spread is the bone –
occurring in around 85 per cent of secondary breast cancer patients.
The new research found that the enzyme LysYl Oxidase (LOX) released
from the primary tumour causes holes in bone and prepares the bone for
the future arrival of cancer cells.
The findings suggest that identifying LOX in oestrogen receptor
negative (ER negative) breast cancer patients early, could allow doctors
to block the enzyme’s activity, preventing bone damage and the spread
of tumour cells to the bone (metastasis), halting the progression of the
disease.
The researchers also showed that treatment with bisphosphonate, an
existing class of drug which prevents the loss of bone mass and is
already used to treat diseases such as osteoporosis, was able to prevent
the changes in the bone and the spread of the disease in mice.
The pioneering research, co-led by Dr Alison Gartland at the
University of Sheffield’s Department of Human Metabolism, could lead to a
better prognosis for cancer patients in the longer term.
Dr Gartland said: “This is important progress in the fight against
breast cancer metastasis and these findings could lead to new treatments
to stop secondary breast tumours growing in the bone, increasing the
chances of survival for thousands of patients.
“We are really excited about our results that show breast cancer
tumours send out signals to destroy the bone before cancer cells get
there in order to prepare the bone for the cancer cells’ arrival.
“The
next step is to find out exactly how the tumour secreted LOX interacts
with bone cells to be able to develop new drugs to stop the formation of
the bone lesions and cancer metastasis. This could also have
implications for how we treat other bone diseases too.”
Study co-leader Dr Janine Erler, formerly Team Leader in Cancer
Biology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, who now is
Associate Professor at the Biotech Research & Innovation Centre
(BRIC) at the University of Copenhagen, said: “Once cancer spreads to
the bone it is very difficult to treat.
"Our research has shed light on the way breast cancer cells prime the
bone so it is ready for their arrival. If we were able to block this
process and translate our work to the clinic, we could stop breast
cancer in its tracks thereby extending patients’ lives.”
The research, funded by Breast Cancer Campaign, Cancer Research UK,
Novo nordisk foundation, Danish cancer society, lundbeck foundation, and
both universities, is published today (27 May 2015) in the journal
Nature.
Katherine Woods, Senior Research Communications Manager at Breast
Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “By unveiling the
role that the protein LOX is playing, these results open up a whole new
avenue for research and treatments that could stop breast cancer
spreading to the bone. The research also adds weight to the growing body
of evidence supporting the role of bisphosphonates in stopping
secondary breast cancer in its tracks.
“The reality of living with secondary breast cancer in the bone is a
stark one, which leaves many women with bone pain and fractures that
need extensive surgery just when they need to be making the most of the
time they have left with friends and family.”
She added: “Secondary breast cancer kills 1,000 women each and every
month in the UK alone and yet we still don’t know enough about how and
why breast cancer spreads to stop it.
“Our newly-formed charity is determined that by 2050, no one will
lose their life to breast cancer and we’ll do this by ramping up our
research efforts, in this area in particular, doing everything possible
to achieve that goal.”