Crucial molecule that involved in spread of breast cancer found
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva
University have identified a key player in the spread of breast
cancer. The findings, published today in the online edition of
Nature, identify a critical molecule that helps cancer spread
beyond the primary tumor. The research highlights a potential
new strategy against metastatic disease. The study's senior
author is Jeffrey Pollard, Ph.D., professor of developmental and
molecular biology and of obstetrics & gynecology and women's
health at Einstein. He also holds the Louis Goldstein Swan Chair
in Women's Cancer Research and is the deputy director of the
Albert Einstein Cancer Center. People rarely die from their
primary (original) tumor. Instead, most cancer deaths occur
because the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to other parts
of the body. "By focusing on sites where cancer had spread, we
were able to detect a molecule that stimulates metastasis," said
Dr. Pollard. "This raise