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25 July 2005
Scientists in Glasgow have announced a major breakthrough which could help stop cancer in its tracks.
Scientists at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Bearsden have traced a protein which helps tumours to break up and spread to other parts of the body. And they hope new drugs can be developed to boost existing treatments for the most common forms of the disease, including breast cancer and the biggest killer, lung cancer. The Glasgow team discovered that the protein, called ROCK, is key to letting cancer cells break away from a tumour. When this happens, the cells can travel to other parts of the body and grow into secondary tumours.
Cancers are easier to treat when the disease is found in one area where a growth can be removed, followed by chemotherapy to "mop up" any cancer cells left behind. Now there are hopes that new drugs could prevent the damage caused by secondary cancers.
Dr Michael Olson, a Canadian who came to the city a year ago, announced the breakthrough at the Cancer Research UK Beatson International Cancer Conference at Caledonian University. He said: "Our hope is that by blocking ROCK the spread and growth of cancers will be slowed or even halted.
"If this is the case, it means that by combining ROCK inhibitors with currently used therapies, we can attack the disease on a number of fronts to improve the chances of a successful outcome." Researchers found that increasing the level of the protein in colon cancer tumours caused cells to break away and invade healthy tissue nearby.
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