Breast cancer researchers have reversed the disease in mice by turning off a key genetic switch.

We already know that many genes are at work - usually in an aberrant way - in the development of breast cancer. Now researchers at the University of California reveal that turning off one of these genes, called beta-1-integrin, can prevent or even reverse the disease in laboratory mice.

Beta-1-integrin is known to regulate the growth of normal breast tissue but if it malfunctions, it can trigger tumor growth. In these experiments, knocking out the beta-1-integrin gene was able to stop the disease developing in mice that were cancer-prone. And blocking the gene actually halted tumor growth in animals who already had breast tumors. Clearly, beta-1-integrin could be an important target for the development of new drugs against breast cancer.

Source

International Association for Breast Cancer Research 2nd November 2003