Promising target for triple-negative breast cancers

Promising drug target for aggressive 'triple-negative' breast cancers identified. Scientists from Breast Cancer Now 's Research Unit at King's College London in collaboration with the charity Tony Robins Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research have identified a molecule crucial to the growth of 'triple-negative' breast cancers that they believe could now be targeted by drugs to help treat patients resistant to chemotherapy. Around 15 per cent of all breast cancers are 'triple-negative', a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer found more commonly in younger women. The name refers to the fact that they lack the three receptors which are normally used to classify breast cancers: the oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). This form of breast cancer therefore cannot be treated with targeted drugs commonly used to interfere with these receptors, such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors for ER and PR-positive breast cancer, or Herceptin for HER2-positive disease. It can often only be targeted by chemotherapy, which works well for some but leaves others with few remaining options if their cancers become resistant to the treatment The study, published on Monday 24 October , recognises the role of a molecule called PIM1 in driving and controlling 'triple-negative' breast cancers, influencing the 'death threshold' of cancer cells in the face of treatments such as chemotherapy.