Scientists Close To Breast Cancer Cure
“British scientists are close to a ‘potential cure’ for most breast cancer cases. They have developed a way to stop tumours growing and spreading, which could save millions of lives every year. Researchers say the new technique could be used to produce a drug to tackle the disease in as little as two years. Breast cancer kills 12,000 British women every year, more than a quarter of those diagnosed with it. Scientists have previously focused on how to prevent tumours from forming, but the new research has found key molecules called microRNAs which the cancer manipulates to spread around the body. Breast cancer cells ’switch off’ these molecules, allowing the cancer to spread unchecked to other parts of the body. This spread is responsible for 90 per cent of deaths from breast cancer and the team which made the breakthrough is working on a drug to stop this fatal process. One of the scientists, Dr Justin Stebbing, senior lecturer and consultant medical oncologist at Imperial College, London, said: ‘This is a potential cure for breast cancer. There are no drugs as yet but they should be available in a couple of years.” w/ photo
