Preventing the Spread of Breast Cancer

Small RNAs Can Prevent Spread of Breast Cancer, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute article, reveals that researchers have identified RNA which suppresses the spread of breast cancer to the lungs and bone. The research links the most invasive and aggressive human breast cancer tumors to an absence of three critical microRNA molecules. When these microRNA molecules were placed in mice with human breast cancer tumors, the tumors were no longer able to spread.

The microRNA in question appears to inhibit mestastasis by interfering with the expression of other genes. These other genes enable cancer cells to proliferate and migrate and could become targets of drugs designed to prevent the spread of breast cancer.