A new insight into the mechanism of breast cancer migration

Researchers at Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, in collaboration with the University of Dundee, have provided new clues into the mechanisms by which breast cancer migrates around the body.

In a significant number of breast cancer patients, the disease moves from the primary site to other regions of body, including the organs. This migration process, called metastasis, accounts for 90% of all cancer mortality statistics.

Aiming to understand the mechanisms by which breast cancer cells migrate to secondary sites, a team of researchers from Cardiff University, led by Dr. Youcef Mehellou, focused their attention on an enzyme called OSR1, which becomes active in the late stages of breast cancer.

The researchers found the activity of OSR1 to be “turned on” in aggressive and highly migrating breast cancer cells, whilst it was “turned off’ in breast cancer cells that are not known to be spreading. This suggested a possible role of OSR1 activity in promoting breast cancer metastasis. To confirm this hypothesis, the team inserted active OSR1 into poorly migrating breast cancer cells and found the addition promoted migration. Critically, using a small molecule that inhibits OSR1 activity, the team was able to supress the mobility of breast cancer cells.

Dr. Youcef Mehellou said, “Our discovery highlighted the important role OSR1 activity plays in promoting breast cancer migration, which occurs in a significant number of breast cancer patients. Driven by this exciting discovery, our focus now is on developing specific OSR1 inhibitors that can be used to prevent breast cancer migration in patients. This will likely work hand in hand with current therapies to pride more effective ways of treating breast cancer.”

The results of this research were published in ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science, and can be accessed here.