Reprogrammed oestrogen binding linked to more aggressive breast cancer

Researchers have discovered how receptors for the female sex hormone oestrogen attach to a different part of the DNA in breast cancer patients who are more likely to relapse.

Scientists based at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute have discovered how receptors for the female sex hormone oestrogen attach to a different part of the DNA in breast cancer patients who are more likely to relapse, according to a study published in Nature.
 
Crucially, they also found that within these more aggressive breast cancers, the oestrogen receptor (ER) was being ‘redirected’ to a different part of the genome by a protein called FOXA1. So drugs that specifically block FOXA1 could help treat patients who do not respond to conventional hormone treatments, such as tamoxifen.

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Image: A cluster of breast cancer cells  Credit: Annie Cavanagh. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk


Reproduced courtesy University of Cambridge Office of Communications

 




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