Cancer: Genes set scene for metastasis
Biologists have identified a set of genes expressed in human breast cancer cells that work together to remodel the vasculature at the site of the primary tumour and that also promote the spread of cancer to the lungs. The finding helps to explain how cancer metastasis can occur and highlights targets for therapeutic treatment.
Metastasis is the leading cause of mortality in cancer patients. A number of genes are already known to contribute to the spread of breast cancer cells to the lungs. But Joan Massagué and colleagues now show how four genes cooperate to promote the formation of new tumour blood vessels, the release of cancer cells into the bloodstream, and the penetration of tumour cells from the bloodstream into the lung.
The gene set comprises EREG, MMP1, MMP2 and COX2; drug combinations that target more than one of these components may prove useful for treating metastatic breast cancer.
CONTACT
Joan M Massague (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY, USA)
Please contact:
Esther Napolitano (Public Affairs, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 646 227 3139; E-mail: napolite@mskcc.org
Gerhard Christofori (University of Basel, Switzerland) N&V author
Tel: +41 61 267 3562 E-mail: gerhard.christofori@unibas.ch

Cancer: Genes linked to chemotherapy response
Scientists have identified a number of genes in lung cancer cells which, when downregulated, make the cancer cells especially vulnerable to a type of chemotherapy. The study highlights a new way to screen for alterations in cancer cells that make them specifically sensitive to therapeutics, so that treatment may leave normal tissue relatively unharmed.
Michael A. White and colleagues used a genome-wide RNA interference screen to identify 87 genes that are involved in the response of cancer cells to paclitaxel. Reducing the expression of a number of these genes sensitizes lung cancer cells to paclitaxel at concentrations 1,000-fold lower than otherwise needed for a significant response. Some of the identified genes are already targets of currently available compounds and could be tested for responses to combinations of drugs, whereas others could be new therapeutic targets.
CONTACT
Michael A. White (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA)
Tel: +1 214 648 2861; E-mail: michael.white@utsouthwestern.edu

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