Sheffield scientists to break the special relationship between breast cancer and bone
11/22/2011 5:21 AM EST
Press release
For immediate release: 22.11.11
Scientists at the University of Sheffield together with colleagues at the University of Manchester are working towards understanding how a key molecule is involved in breast cancer spread, thanks to a research grant worth £20,000 from Breast Cancer Campaign.
Researchers know that molecules called Runx2 and CBF – β play a vital role in the normal development, growth and renewal of our skeletons. However Dr Paul Shore at the University of Manchester has discovered that breast cancer cells also make Runx2 and believe that it may be working in partnership with a molecule called CBF - β to help these cells spread to, invade and grow inside bones. This is a particular problem for patients with advanced breast cancer who often experience pain and even fractures as a result of the cancer spreading to the skeleton.
Research from Dr Ingunn Holen from the University of Sheffield’s Medical School aims to understand this more fully. “We grow two sets of breast cancer cells, one with a working version of CBF – β and the other where the molecule doesn’t work. We will then be able to compare the ability of these two different versions of cells to form tumours in bone”, she said.
She continued: “Over a period of weeks, we will monitor exactly whereabouts in the skeleton these cells spread to, allowing me to make a detailed analysis of the tumours and the make- up of bones they have grown inside. This will all enable us to work out exactly how important these molecules are for breast cancer invading bone, and find out how to stop it from happening.”
Dr Lisa Wilde, Director of Research, Breast Cancer Campaign said, “Too many people still die from breast cancer, mainly as a result of it spreading to other parts of the body. Dr Holen’s innovative project will provide vital clues about CBF - β that could help development of new treatments to halt breast cancer in its tracks.”
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Notes to editors
• The Breast Cancer Campaign Tissue Bank, the UK’s first ever national breast cancer tissue bank is a unique collaboration with four leading research institutions to create a vital resource of breast cancer tissue for researchers across the UK and Ireland. Visit breastcancertissuebank.org
• Breast Cancer Campaign aims to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure
• The charity currently funds 101 projects worth over £16.5 million in 31 locations across the UK and Ireland
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and accounts for nearly one in three of all cancers in women
• In the UK, around 48,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year - that’s 130 a day
• Visit breastcancercampaign.org or follow us at twitter.com/bccampaign
• With nearly 24,000 students from 128 countries, the University of Sheffield is one of the UK’s leading and largest universities. A member of the Russell Group, it has a reputation for world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines.
• The University has won four Queen’s Anniversary Prizes (1998, 2000, 2002, 2007). These prestigious awards recognise outstanding contributions by universities and colleges to the United Kingdom’s intellectual, economic, cultural and social life. Sheffield also boasts five Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and many of its alumni have gone on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence around the world.
• The University’s research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, ICI, Slazenger, and many more household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.
• The University has well-established partnerships with a number of universities and major corporations, both in the UK and abroad. Its partnership with Leeds and York Universities in the White Rose Consortium has a combined research power greater than that of either Oxford or Cambridge.
• For further information, please visit
www.sheffield.ac.uk