Study confirms therapy could halt breast cancer spread
22 February 2011 - ICR scientists have for the first time shown that blocking a key enzyme can stop breast cancer spreading to distant organs.
The researchers found that the enzyme lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) is needed for tumour cells to escape from the breast and invade surrounding tissue, thereby allowing cancer cells to travel to distant organs.
They showed that LOXL2 promotes this process by controlling the amounts of molecules called TIMP1 and MMP9, which have previously been shown to play important roles in allowing cancer to spread.
Using laboratory models, the team showed that blocking the function of LOXL2 decreased the spread of the cancer from the breast to the lungs, liver and bone. These findings confirm that a drug designed to block LOXL2 could be used to treat women with advanced breast cancer.
LOXL2 has been linked to the spread of several cancers including colon, esophageal and squamous cell cancers, so the study also has important implications for treating many cancer types.
