Transforming Growth Factor Beta May Control Breast Cancer Metastasis

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As Reported by HealthDay News. 2009 Dec 6

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) stimulates the genes that contribute to the spread of breast cancer. Using mice to study the metastasis of breast cancer, researchers from Cancer Research UK found that single breast cancer cells became separated from the primary tumor when TGF-beta was active. Activity of TGF-beta switched on messenger genes in the cancer cells and then switched them off. The single cancer cells that separated from the main tumor subsequently entered the blood stream. When TGF-beta was inactive, however, only clumps of cancer cells broke away. Cell clumps can only migrate through the lymphatic system, and therefore metastasis resulting from clump separation is localized. These findings shed important light on one mechanism that appears to be involved in breast cancer metastasis and suggest that TGF-beta could become a target for preventive therapy. The research results were published in the October issue of Nature Cell Biology.

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