Gene behind breast cancer identified

The discovery of tumor-suppressor genes has been key to unlocking the molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation the hallmark of cancer. Often, these genes will work in concert with others in a complex biochemical system that keeps our cells growing and dividing, disease free.

Now researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that defects in one gene, called p18, may override the rest, eventually leading to cancer.

This discovery, combined with new laboratory techniques, will help scientists identify and test new treatments for luminal-type tumors, which account for between 70 and 80 percent of all breast cancers, but are generally slower growing than other types.

The results of the research appear in the May 2009 issue of Cancer Cell.