The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Latest News

$1.5 million to investigate role of stem cells in breast cancer

 

Research that aims to discover whether breast stem cells or their descendants are directly linked to breast cancer development has received $1.5 million in the hope it could lead to new treatments for the disease.

The funding was awarded by the Victorian Cancer Agency through the Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium (VBCRC) to Associate Professor Geoff Lindeman and Associate Professor Jane Visvader at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Professor Stephen Fox from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Professor Bruce Mann from the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Dr Lindeman said understanding how breast stem cells and their descendants – luminal progenitor cells – are involved in normal breast development would contribute to understanding of how breast cancer develops.

“The breast stem cell is like a seed that gives rise to all the ducts and milk-producing cells in the breast,” Dr Lindeman said. “Stem cells are required for replenishing breast tissue during normal monthly cycles in women and for generating new breast tissue during pregnancy and lactation. It is possible that stem cells or their ‘daughters’ - luminal progenitor cells - may be important target cells in which genetic mishaps progressively accumulate, ultimately leading to breast cancer.”

In August Dr Visvader and Lindeman’s team in the institute’s Molecular Genetics of Cancer division published their finding that a population of breast cells called luminal progenitor cells are likely to be responsible for breast cancers that develop in women carrying mutations in the gene BRCA1.

BRCA1 gene mutations are found in 10-20 per cent of women with hereditary breast cancer. Women with BRCA1 mutations often develop ‘basal-like’ breast cancer, which is a particularly aggressive form of the disease.

This discovery built upon the 2006 discovery, also by Drs Lindeman and Visvader, of breast stem cells in mice. The discoveries combined have led to a major shift in the way scientists think breast cancer develops.

With the new VBCRC funding Drs Lindeman and Visvader will study breast tissue from women who have contributed samples to kConFab – a consortium that collects data and biospecimens from women with a family history of cancer - and who have undergone prophylactic mastectomies or surgery for breast cancer.

Dr Visvader said the research could lead to new breast cancer treatments. “If we can understand the cells within breast tissue that are predisposed to becoming cancer cells and identify flags, or markers, on these cells, we can use them to refine therapies to eradicate cancer cells,” she said.

The VBCRC funding will also go toward finding compounds that switch off a gene called LMO4. The molecule produced by the LMO4 gene is overproduced in more than 50 per cent of people with breast cancer and appears to be involved in the causation and progression of breast cancer. Dr Visvader said reducing LMO4 levels could be an effective way of targeting breast cancer cells.

For further information

Penny Fannin
Strategic Communications Manager
Ph: +61 3 9345 2345
Mob: 0417 125 700
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Download media release