They discover a protein that prevents the growth of the most aggressive breast cancer | Present

More than two million women now suffer from breast cancer worldwide and, in addition, one in ten will also suffer from this serious disease throughout her life.

And hence the importance of this new discovery made by a team of scientists from the famous Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the center that awards the Nobel Prize for Science each year, because they have identified a molecule that prevents the growth of breast tumors, according to the results of his pioneering research published in the journal “Nature Communications”.

It is a protein called “GIT1” and this may allow new drugs to be obtained for the most aggressive breast cancers and for which there is currently no effective treatment.

Breast cancer affects around 10% of women during their lifetime and is a major medical and social burden in all countries. Fewer treatment options are available for so-called “triple negative breast cancers.”

However, Per Uhlén and her team at the Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics have identified a novel mechanism by which the ubiquitous protein GIT1 regulates so-called Notch signaling, which affects breast cancer initiation and growth.

Promising result

Specifically, analyzes of tumor cells from breast cancer patients showed that high levels of GIT1 protected against tumor growth, while low levels of GIT1 increased tumor growth.

In fact, negative breast tumors from patients had lower levels of GIT1 than positive breast tumors. In addition, the results also showed that negative breast cancer patients with high levels of GIT1 have a better prognosis than those with low levels.

“Our results provide important information about a mechanism that controls the initiation and growth of breast tumors,” explains Professor Uhlén. “We hope that these findings will inform the development of new therapies for patients with difficult-to-treat breast cancer.”

Following this scientific breakthrough, this Swedish research group is already actively collaborating with doctors who treat cancer patients in order to apply this new knowledge that is crucial for the treatment of patients.

“We want to conduct research that can benefit patients with serious illnesses,” concludes Professor Uhlén.

And the good news is that the Karolinska Institute, located in Stockholm, has state-of-the-art tools and equipment that can drive the development of these new therapies against breast cancer.

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