Identified the molecular trigger for the development of breast cancer. « Medicine in the Library

In what may prove to be a missing piece in the breast cancer puzzle, researchers from the Harvard Medical School have identified the molecular trigger that ignites cases of the disease currently unexplained by the classical model of breast cancer development.

A report on the team’s work has been published in “Nature“.

• Researchers trace the origin of some breast cancers to genomic shuffling – rearrangement of chromosomes – which activates cancer genes and triggers the disease.
• The finding offers a long-missing explanation for many cases of the disease that remain unexplained by the classical model of breast cancer development.
• The study shows that the sex hormone estrogen – hitherto thought to be just a fuel for breast cancer growth – can directly cause genomic rearrangements that drive the tumor.

We have identified what we believe is the original molecular trigger that initiates a cascade culminating in breast cancer development in a subset of estrogen-driven breast cancers,” said Professor Peter Park.

The researchers said that up to a third of breast cancer cases can arise through the newly identified mechanism.

The study also shows that the sex hormone estrogen is the culprit for this molecular dysfunction because it directly alters a cell’s DNA.

Read the full text of the article:
ERα-associated translocations underlie oncogene amplifications in breast cancer.
Lee, J.JK., Jung, Y.L., Cheong, TC. et al.
Nature (2023). Published 17 May 2023

Source: Harvard Medical School