Breast cancer gene breakthrough 'could halt disease from spreading'

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Scientists have pinpointed a key gene, which is central to the spread of cancerous cells to other parts of the body. This is the most common cause of death from the disease.

Experiments show the gene, known as SATB1, controls the behaviour of more than 1,000 other genes in tumour cells.

When the gene is over-activated, the other genes run amok, easing cancer's invasion of other parts of the body.

The US researchers found knocking out this 'kingpin' gene causes the cancer cells to stop their runaway proliferation.

Drugs which interfere with the gene could provide valuable new treatments for the disease which affects more than 44,000 women a year in the UK alone.

Writing in the journal Nature, the University of California researchers describe experiments in which human breast cancer cells formed tumours in the lungs of mice after being injected into their tails.

When the gene was stopped from working, the mice developed fewer or even no tumours.

Other experiments showed that cancer cells which would not normally spread, gain the ability to do so when SATB1 is activated.

Examination of thousands of human breast cancer tissue samples showed that the gene is most active in patients whose prognosis is poor.

Taken together, the experiments show that the gene, which helps organised DNA in healthy cells, is key in the spread of the cancer.

The researchers said it appeared that aggressive tumours formed when the gene is over-activated, and the 'mob' of genes that it controls begins to run amok.

"An important question is what turns on SATB1 during breast cancer progression," they said.

"That's just the beginning of things we really want to know."

Dr Kat Arney, of Cancer Research UK, described the research as 'fascinating'.

She said: "It seems that if this molecule behaves inappropriately, it could lead to cancer.

"Even more interesting is the fact that removing SATB1 apparently reverses these changes, which suggests that it could provide an exciting lead for treating breast cancer in the future."