Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most deadly forms of the disease, but now scientists have new hope thanks to the discovery of a gene associated with it.
The breakthrough may allow pharmaceutical researchers to develop drugs that target TNBC tissue.
Targeted breast cancer treatment works by honing in on hormone receptors, which govern the growth of cancer cells. The majority of breast cancers show such receptors, but not triple negative breast cancer, which comprises 10-20 percent of breast cancer cases.
Triple negative breast cancer is aggressive, spreads rapidly, and is more lethal than most other types of breast cancer. The lack of targeted treatment options leads to a higher a death rate, say oncologists.
New research from a team in from A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore in collaboration with the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, Calif., has identified a gene called RASAL2 that could provide a target for creating new triple negative treatments.
Earlier this month, researchers at City College in New York discovered another biomarker called intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in human TNBC cell lines and tissues.
The pair of discoveries gives drug developers targets at which to aim new TNBC treatments.
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