Scientist to lead new cancer research
A SCIENTIST from Yorkshire is to lead cutting-edge research exploring the links between breast cancer and type two diabetes.
Research has found that those suffering from the latter are 20 per cent more likely to develop breast cancer, and also with the condition spreading.
Dr James Boyne, based at the University of Bradford, has now been awarded a grant of more than £90,000 by the research charity, Breast Cancer Now, to lead a three-year project.
“With this funding from Breast Cancer Now we have brought together expertise from across West Yorkshire to investigate why breast cancer is more likely to metastasise in women with type two diabetes,” said Dr Boyne, a lecturer in molecular and cellular biology.
“We are hopeful that working together we will be able to identify new mechanisms that drive breast cancer progression in type two diabetics to ensure the best possible outcomes for these patients.”
When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body it becomes incurable, and almost all of the 11,500 women that die as a result of breast cancer each year in the UK will have seen their cancer spread.
More than 4,238 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Yorkshire and the Humber each year, and 922 die from the disease every year. While previous studies have shown that platelets may encourage cancer cells to grow, the underlying science has always eluded experts.
Dr Richard Berks, of Breast Cancer Now, said: “Dr Boyne’s vital research will help us understand why breast cancer is more likely to spread in women with type two diabetes.
“Understanding the link may help doctors to predict whether a diabetic patient is likely to develop metastatic breast cancer, so that effective treatments can be put in place to reduce the risk of the disease spreading and becoming incurable.”