A three-dimensional model that allows insight into how breast tissue grows in its earliest stages has been developed at the University of Virginia, allowing scientists the ability to duplicate the early growth of human breast tissue outside the body.
“These findings have important implications for the study and understanding of breast cancer,” says Deborah Lannigan, PhD, associate professor in the UVA School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology. “Like never before, researchers around the world now have a means of understanding how breast cancer begins and progresses.” Results from this study were published in Genes & Development.
Knowing how ducts form is essential to the development of improved therapies, due to the fact that nearly 90% of breast cancers originate in the breast’s ducts. This new three-dimensional model was used to determine which bodily mechanisms organize the development of breast ducts, particularly the outer basal cells. Researchers found that a signal, called epidermal growth factor, determined how many basal cells the ducts produce. Further investigation of this finding may reveal how basal tumors form and how normal basal cells may inhibit the spread of cancers.
Furthermore, researchers discovered a higher sensitivity to growth factors in human breast tissue than in that of mice. “These differences might explain why some drugs are less effective in patients than would have been predicted from animal studies,” suggests Ian Macara, PhD, professor of microbiology and a co-investigator on the study.
Further research of these findings could greatly impact the development of more effective medications and the evolution of personalized breast cancer therapies.
Source: University of Virginia Health System.