The early-stage research, led by scientists from Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, identified a genetic ‘switch’ in breast cancer cells that boosts the production of a type of internal scaffolding.
This scaffolding is a type of protein, called Keratin-80, and related to the protein that helps keep hair strong. Boosting the amount of this scaffolding makes the cancer cells more rigid, which the researchers say may help the cells clump together and travel in the blood stream to other parts of the body.
The researchers, who published their work in the journal Nature Communications, studied human breast cancer cells treated with a common type of breast cancer drug called aromatase inhibitors.
The team found the same switch is involved in breast cancer cells becoming resistant to the medication (meaning the drugs are no longer effective if the cancer returns).
Read more at Imperial College London
Image: Drug-resistant breast cancer cells surrounded by non-resistant cells. The cell nucleus is shown in yellow; while the cell's 'scaffolding' is shown in green and purple. Keratin-80 is shown in purple. (Credit: Imperial College London/Institute of Cancer Research)