“We think this strategy could delay or prevent breast cancer in women with an inherited BRCA1 gene mutation”, he said.
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Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia believe they’ve found the kryptonite for the breast-cancer causing gene BRCA1 – believed to be the cause behind around half of hereditary cancers.
Possible progress for women at high-risk for breast cancer. This has led many women with the BRCA1 genetic mutation to perform Mastectomy, i.e to have their breasts surgically removed in order to avoid contracting breast cancer. If confirmed in clinical trials, this would provide a non-surgical option to prevent breast cancer in women with elevated genetic risk.
Emma Nolan tells Jon Bridges about the breakthrough and its significance.
The discovery of RANK as a marker of cancer precursors was an important breakthrough because inhibitors of the RANK signalling pathway were already in clinical use, Lindeman explained.
Denosumab is used as an inhibitor of RANK in osteoporosis and breast cancer that has moved to the bone.
Professor Geoff Lindeman, from The Royal Melbourne Hospital and part of the research team, called the findings “important”, and said they could offer a way to prevent breast cancers in high risk women. “We were excited to discover that these pre-cancerous cells could be identified by a marker protein called RANK”, Emma Nolan, a PhD student at the institute, said. Lab trials on breast tissue from BRCA1 cancer patients showed the medication could prevent tumour formation.
As part of a pilot study, Lindeman said, three women with a BRCA1 mutation were treated with denosumab, and the results “were promising”.
Dr Jason Carroll, a Cancer Research UK expert in breast cancer genetics, echoed the potential of the results.
He said trials would be needed on possible harmful effects of long-term denosumab use, compared to its potential benefits in cancer treatment, but added: ‘This is the first step in the right direction’. They hope to further examine the molecular changes that occur in breast tissue when a dose of denosumab is administered, said Dr. Francisco Esteva, professor at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, who was not involved in the most recent study.
Kylie Gellie, who has had a mastectomy and oophorectomy to avoid breast and ovarian cancer, with her children Jasmine, Korby and Sienna.
Scientists found that denosumab observed in the sample tissue could actually “switch off” the growth of the cells before they develop to cancer.
She’d just finished her university studies and moved from Hamilton with husband Clinton to look after her ailing grandfather in Auckland when she noticed a worrying lump in her breast.
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“In all honesty, it was a blessing in disguise because we had no idea that it was in the family”, said Ms Gubb, who has two other sisters.
