Source: Xinhua

01-07-2009 08:19

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The metadherin gene (MTDH) plays a role in both cancer metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy, and can be a promising therapeutic target for high-risk breast cancers, according to a new study published in the Cancer Cell journal Tuesday.

Vasiliki Kostoula, a Greek breast cancer patient, smiles after a radiological medical examination in an Athens hospital October 29, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"Most breast cancer patients resist currently available therapeutic regimens and succumb to recurrent tumors that spread to distant vital organs, such as lungs, bone, liver and brain," said senior study author Dr. Yibin Kang of Princeton University's Department of Molecular Biology.

"Resistance to chemotherapy and metastasis remain major challenges to curative therapy," he said.

Previous research identified several clinically applicable genetic signatures associated with poor clinical outcomes of breast cancer. However, the signatures differed between independent studies, making it difficult to identify overlapping, functionally relevant genes that might be useful for understanding, and eventually preventing, breast cancer metastasis and chemoresistance.