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18
Jan 2019
Converting breast cancer cells into fat cells may stop spread
Breast cancer is the most common cancer and according to Cancer Research, there are currently around 150 people diagnosed each day in the UK.
Scientists at the University of Basel in Switzerland have shown that by turning breast cancer cells into harmless fat cells could stop them from spreading.
The research, which has been trialled on mice, involved the use of a cancer drug and diabetes drug which, when combined together, convert the cancer cells into fat and stop them from reverting back to cancer.
The study is still to be clinically tested but as both drugs have been approved by the FDA, it is hoped that the process leading to human trials will be expedited.
The research team targeted the cells during a procedure named epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This is the process used by the body which is associated with the development of organs and the healing of wounds. Cancer cells use the process to change their molecular properties and form a different cell type, which enables them to spread around the body.
It was during this process, while the cells were in a highly changeable state, that the research saw a ‘window of opportunity’.
Study author Professor Gerhard Christofori, said “The breast cancer cells-turned-fat cells remain fat cells and do not revert back to breast cancer cells.
“Since we have used FDA-approved drugs to study the preclinical effect of the treatment, a clinical translation may be possible..
“In future, this innovative approach could be used in combination with conventional chemotherapy to suppress both primary tumour growth and the formation of deadly metastases.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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