Another breast cancer breakthrough?

Thursday, 14 April 2011 10:34 AM

Breast cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK with one in eight women being diagnosed during their lifetime, an increase of 50 per cent over the last 25 years.

Now though more and more women are surviving with eight out of 10 women overcoming the disease and following a new breakthrough that figure could become even higher.

New research has found that healthy breast cells help kill off nearby cancer cells by secreting interleukin 25, a protein known for its role in the immune system’s response to inflammation.

It is well known that the human body has a highly developed immune system to detect and destroy invading pathogens and tumour cells but the development that normal breast cells could also help beat the disease could in future be used as an organic approach to breast cancer treatment

Mina Bissell, of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division, who led the research said: “We found that normal breast cells provide an innate defence mechanism against cancer by producing interleukin 25 (IL25) to actively and specifically kill breast cancer cells. This suggests that IL25 receptor signalling may provide a new therapeutic target for the treatment of breast cancer.”
 

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