Presence of Growth Factor Predicts Poor Breast Cancer Outcome
http://www.cameroninquiry.ca/articles/278/1/Presence-of-Growth-Factor-Predicts-Poor-Breast-Cancer-Outcome/Page1.html
Cameron Inquiry
Cameron Inquiry is a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador who is somewhat outraged and disgusted at what has transpired in the Health Care System in Newfoundland and Labrador leading up to the revelation of the faulty hormone receptor tests and the impact that this scandal has had on the lives of the breast cancer patients and their families.
By Cameron Inquiry
Published on 09/11/2008
The response of Breast Cancer to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) predicts an aggressive breast cancer tumor that is less likely to respond to treatment. This was the result of breast cancer research conducted by researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine.
Growth Factor Predicts Outcome of Breast Cancer
The response of Breast Cancer to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) predicts an aggressive breast cancer tumor that is less likely to respond to treatment. This was the result of breast cancer research conducted by researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine.
In a report published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers from Baylor College of Medicine have reported that the response to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in breast cancer cells predicts an agressive breast cancer tumor that is less likely to respond to treatment.
According to the researchers, these findings can result in the a more targeted movement towards tailored breast cancer treatments based on the attributes of the various breast cancer tumors discovered.
Dr. Adrian Lee, associate professor in the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Cancer Center at BCM has indicated that "Our goal is to identify biomarkers that will help predict which patients will respond to therapy against insulin-like growth factor. Several inhibitors of the IGF pathway are in patient studies right now. There's a large movement to understand which patients will respond to these drugs. This is a step toward that goal."
In the latest study, Dr. Lee and his colleagues stimulated breast cancer cells with IGF-1 and defined how more than 800 genes in the cells subsequently responded to the growth factor. These results were then used to study patient breast cancer tumors that matched these gene signatures and then correlated this with the fate of the patient.
According to Lee, "We have technology now to allow us to globally assess what IGF is doing in breast cancer at the whole gene expression level," said Lee. "This is one of the first studies to do that. We know that IGF is bad in cancer, but now we can globally understand it in a more comprehensive manner. It could lead to finding biomarkers for patients response" to breast cancer treatments."
These results are significant for designing anti-cancer treatments that seek to cause DNA damage and tumor cell death.
The researchers discovered that tumors that were affected by IGF in a way which genes were activated or translated into messages, were much more agressive and more likely to grow. The researchers also discovered that these results were independent of the tumors reaction to estrogen.
This is very important," said Lee. "Once patients are resistant to hormone treatment (as with tamoxifen), their treatment options are limited. A treatment that inhibited receptors for IGF might give them another option."
Currently, the Breast Center is studying the effects of an IGF receptor antibody combined with a drug called exemestane (Aromasin® or an aromatase inhibitor that blocks estrogen production) in postmenopausal women. One group of women take the combination and the other takes exemestane.
In a report published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers from Baylor College of Medicine have reported that the response to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in breast cancer cells predicts an agressive breast cancer tumor that is less likely to respond to treatment.
According to the researchers, these findings can result in the a more targeted movement towards tailored breast cancer treatments based on the attributes of the various breast cancer tumors discovered.
Dr. Adrian Lee, associate professor in the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Cancer Center at BCM has indicated that "Our goal is to identify biomarkers that will help predict which patients will respond to therapy against insulin-like growth factor. Several inhibitors of the IGF pathway are in patient studies right now. There's a large movement to understand which patients will respond to these drugs. This is a step toward that goal."
In the latest study, Dr. Lee and his colleagues stimulated breast cancer cells with IGF-1 and defined how more than 800 genes in the cells subsequently responded to the growth factor. These results were then used to study patient breast cancer tumors that matched these gene signatures and then correlated this with the fate of the patient.
According to Lee, "We have technology now to allow us to globally assess what IGF is doing in breast cancer at the whole gene expression level," said Lee. "This is one of the first studies to do that. We know that IGF is bad in cancer, but now we can globally understand it in a more comprehensive manner. It could lead to finding biomarkers for patients response" to breast cancer treatments."
These results are significant for designing anti-cancer treatments that seek to cause DNA damage and tumor cell death.
The researchers discovered that tumors that were affected by IGF in a way which genes were activated or translated into messages, were much more agressive and more likely to grow. The researchers also discovered that these results were independent of the tumors reaction to estrogen.
This is very important," said Lee. "Once patients are resistant to hormone treatment (as with tamoxifen), their treatment options are limited. A treatment that inhibited receptors for IGF might give them another option."
Currently, the Breast Center is studying the effects of an IGF receptor antibody combined with a drug called exemestane (Aromasin® or an aromatase inhibitor that blocks estrogen production) in postmenopausal women. One group of women take the combination and the other takes exemestane.