In the journal Clinical Cancer Research, a study mentions that scientists have identified a genetic error that drives a form of breast cancer, opening the way to new therapies for women with breast cancer disease. Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research, in London, found extra genes in lobular breast cancer cells.
7 to 10% breast cancer cases can be attributed to Classic Lobular Carcinomas (CLC).
Half the cancers carried extra copies of the gene FGFR1, which is responsible for a protein of the same name and is involved in promoting cell division. An excess of FGFR1 sends this process out of control.
The findings suggest that blocking FGFR1 activity may slow, stop or reverse tumour growth.