WHY BREAST CANCER COMES BACK!
What every gal needs to know
AMAJOR breakthrough has identified how hidden breast cancer cells hibernate in the body to evade treatment — giving scientists a potential way to eliminate microscopic malignancies and save millions from certain death!
Nearly 80 percent of all breast cancers are hormone receptor positive — meaning the disease feeds off estrogen and progesterone. Surgery and five to ten years of endocrine therapy are the standard treatment for most cases. But nearly 30 percent of patients still relapse — and in many instances the cancer comes roaring back as terminal stage four.
Researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research, London sought to discover how the disease is able to return years — and sometimes decades — after initial diagnosis and remission. The team found inhibiting the enzyme G9a stopped cancer cells treated with hormone therapy from going to sleep and killed those already inactive.
In addition, the scientists determined people with a naturally low expression of G9a — and other related biomolecules — had a significantly reduced risk of relapse over the following 15 to 20 years.
Professor Luca Magnani explains, “Our research identified a key mechanism used by cancer cells to evade therapy by remaining in a dormant state, hibernating before they ‘wake up’ years later and begin to rapidly divide again.
“I hope our early findings will next lead to research to target these dormant breast cancer cells so that one day — without the need for years of hormone therapy — patients can be sure that their cancer will not return.”