Skip to content Skip to navigation menu 14 November 2008 By
using a rare resource developed by experts at the Welsh School
of Pharmacy, UK scientists have discovered the molecular basis
for tamoxifen response in breast cancer cells - and the reason
why some women can develop resistance to the treatment.
Tamoxifen is given to most women for five years after they are
first diagnosed with breast cancer to help stop the disease
returning. However, in time some women develop resistance to the
treatment, meaning their cancer is more likely to recur. Using
unique tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cell lines developed by
Cardiff scientists at the Tenovus Centre for Cancer Research,
researchers at the Cancer Research UK and University of
Cambridge Cambridge Research Institute have discovered for the
first time the mechanism by which the breast cancer therapy
tamoxifen operates. It switches off a breast cancer gene ErbB2
via a protein called Pax2. Pax2 acts as the ‘switch’ to keep
ErbB2 turned off. Tamoxifen resistance