Personalised breast cancer treatments 'one step closer'

Breasts cancer patients could be one step closer to receiving personalised treatments for the disease thanks to the latest discovery from researchers at Cardiff University. Scientists looked at what causes different forms of the disease to act so differently, which could lead to better treatment options for each of the known breast cancer types.

Researchers compared the specific genetic errors that occur within certain breast cancer cells in mouse breast cells using gene technology. Using this method, they were able to use one cell type to replicate almost all forms of aggressive breast cancer. The disease has around ten different forms, which could now be better understood, leading to more effective treatments.

According to Dr Matt Smalley, leader of the research from the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute at Cardiff University, the work looked at how two different types of cells could be subject to a single genetic error and what happened when one cell type experienced two different errors. 

"We now have strong evidence that here is one particular cell type in the breast associated with the most aggressive form of human breast cancer. In one part of the study, we created the same cancer-predisposing genetic errors in each of the two cell types. In another part, we created different genetic errors in the same cell type," he continued. 

Some of the cancers that originated within the oestrogen receptor negative luminal cells, which is a single cell type, were similar to common types of breast cancer. This cell type responded to pregnancy hormones and normal menstrual cycles, dividing to provide the extra cells that are needed for the process of breast cancer. It is thought that breast cancer occurs when this divide occurs at the wrong time.

The findings help toward understanding the cause and origin of breast cancer, as well as the ways in which forms of the disease can differ. Knowing how the cancer develops can now help scientists move towards the development of personal treatments, which will provide more targeted medications for women with certain forms of the disease.