Gene Discovery That Affects Breast Cancer Treatment, UK

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 01 Oct 2007 - 15:00 PDT

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Medical scientists at the University of Leicester will be reporting on a potentially unique advance in breast cancer research at the National Cancer Research Institute Conference in Birmingham on Monday 1st October.

Dr Paul Symonds and his research team based at the University and at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, UK, have identified two genes associated with adverse reaction to cancer treatment.

The research could mean people who might react badly to radiotherapy could be warned in advance or alternative treatments be sought. There is no test at present for an abnormal reaction to radiotherapy. No-one in the past has proposed such a test.

The team who carried out the study included Drs Paul Symonds, Mark Plumb, Irene Peat and George Giotopoulos of the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester. Their results have been published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Dr Symonds said: "Radiotherapy is a very important treatment for breast cancer. A small number of people can develop severe side effects."

"During treatment patients can get redness of the skin which may peel off. Later the breast may shrink (atrophy) and the tissues under the skin may become hard and thickened (fibrosis). Red widened blood vessels can appear in the skin (telangiectasia)."

After examining patients at the Glenfield Hospital, Leicester Royal Infirmary and the City Hospital Nottingham, the team at the University of Leicester, funded in part by Hope Against Cancer (formerly the Hope Foundation for Cancer Research), has found 2 separate genes strongly associated with either thickening of tissue or red widened blood vessels.

Dr Symonds explained: "About 8% of women carry the fibrosis gene and have 15 times the risk of developing thickening of the tissues which is often associated with lifelong chronic pain.

"The genes we have identified at present have a predictive value of 50-60% for the development of marked fibrosis with breast pain. If we could identify the acute genes that lead to marked redness and peeling of the skin, this could increase the predictive value of the test to almost 100%."

Dr Symonds said further work needs to be done as the researchers have not found the genes responsible for redness and peeling of the skin during treatment.

"In the future it may be possible to identify people who are going to react badly to radiotherapy. Such patients should only receive radiation treatment if there is no alternative and be warned of an increased risk of fibrosis," he said.

The NCRI Cancer Conference takes place between 30th September and 3rd October at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. Further information can be found on: - http://www.ncri.org.uk/ncriconference/

About the NCRI Cancer Conference

The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference is the UK's premier forum for disseminating advances across all aspects of cancer research.

AstraZeneca is the gold sponsor for the NCRI Cancer Conference 2007.

About the NCRI

The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) was established in April 2001. It is a partnership between government, the voluntary sector and the private sector, with the primary mission of maximising patient benefit that accrues from cancer research in the UK through coordination of effort and joint planning towards an integrated national strategy for cancer research. http://www.ncri.org.uk

The NCRI consists of: The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI); The Association for International Cancer Research; The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; Breakthrough Breast Cancer; Breast Cancer Campaign; Cancer Research UK; Department of Health; Economic and Social Research Council; Leukaemia Research Fund; Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research; Macmillan Cancer Support; Marie Curie Cancer Care; The Medical Research Council; Northern Ireland Health and Personal Social Services Research & Development Office; Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation; Scottish Executive Health Department; Tenovus; Wales Office of Research and Development for Health & Social Care; Wellcome Trust; and Yorkshire Cancer Research.

University of Leicester

- A member of the 1994 Group of universities that share a commitment to research excellence, high quality teaching and an outstanding student experience.

- Ranked top for student satisfaction in England (jointly with Oxford) among mainstream universities (average score of 4.4 out of 5 for overall satisfaction)

- Ranked as a Top 20 university by The Sunday Times University Guide, The Guardian University Guide and the UK Good University Guide

- One of just 23 UK universities to feature in world's top 200- Shanghai Jiao Tong International Index, 2005-07.

- Short listed University of the Year in 2007 by The Sunday Times and Short listed Higher Education Institution of the Year - THES awards 2005 and 2006

- Students' Union of the Year award 2005, short listed 2006

Founded in 1921, the University of Leicester has 19,000 students from 136 countries. Teaching in 18 subject areas has been graded Excellent by the Quality Assurance Agency- including 14 successive scores - a consistent run of success matched by just one other UK University. Leicester is world renowned for the invention of DNA Fingerprinting by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys and houses Europe's biggest academic Space Research Centre. 90% of staff are actively engaged in high quality research and 13 subject areas have been awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. The University's research grant income places it among the top 20 UK research universities. The University employs over 3,000 people, has an annual turnover of £184m, covers an estate of 94 hectares and is engaged in a £300m investment programme- among the biggest of any UK university.

http://www.le.ac.uk/