A UCD conference brings researchers in breast development and breast cancer together. Claire O'Connell reports
Can rogue stem cells cause cancer? How do breast cells process information? And can we make tiny molecular tools to block tumour-related genes? These are just some of the emerging themes in breast cancer research to be discussed at a major international conference at University College Dublin (UCD) this week.
The idea is to bring together people working in basic research on breast development and on breast cancer, according to conference co-organiser Dr William Gallagher from UCD's Conway Institute.
"You can look at the way the normal breast develops, and use that information to provide some links into how breast cancer develops and progresses. By sharing the two knowledge bases you might get an increased understanding."
One topic of discussion will be how research into stem cells in the breast could have implications for future cancer treatments. Stem cells are "master cells" with the capacity to generate a number of other more specialised cell types. We often hear of them as potential therapies for debilitating illnesses, but there is evidence that in certain forms of cancer, stem cells themselves may be the bad guys.
"I'm interested in stem cells as the potential cause of breast cancer," says Dr Matthew Smalley, who leads the mammary stem cell team at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre in London.
The breast contains a small number of stem cells to renew and maintain healthy breast tissue. Individual stem cells can live for a long time, which could be a key in cancer development, says Smalley.
"You probably need around four to six genetic changes to turn a normal cell into a cancer cell, and because most normal tissue cells don't hang around that long, they don't have the time for all these changes to pile up," he says. "But because stem cells exist for a long period in the body, we think it's these cells in which genetic changes can accumulate and turn the normal cell into a cancer cell."
Cancerous stem cells may also be behind tumour re-growth, says Smalley, and his team aims to find a way to kill off tumour stem cells. And while it will be several years before an anti-stem cell therapy against cancer is available, he hopes their work in understanding breast stem cell biology will help optimise existing anti-cancer treatments in the shorter term.
The conference will also address other key areas in breast cancer research, says Prof Finian Martin, who co-organised the event. One focus will be on comparing events in normal and dysfunctional breast cells with a view to identifying new anti-cancer treatments. Martin's research at the Conway Institute grows breast cells in the lab in three-dimensional models that mimic tissue. The scientists use these models to examine how information flows within the cells under normal and more tumour-like conditions.
"Knowing the differences, one may be in a position to build hypotheses about designing new therapeutics," says Martin.
Dr Frank Gannon, executive director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (Embo), will speak about how the female hormone oestrogen can drive tumour growth in about 60 per cent of breast cancers. His lab in Heidelberg is gaining new insights into how oestrogen exerts its actions on a cell. "We have been showing that the whole machinery is very complex and if you interfere with any part of the machine then it stops it from working," he says. This kind of basic research brings a greater understanding of biology and opens up new possibilities for treatments, according to Gannon.
Delegates will also hear about research into using tiny molecules called peptides to block certain genes from being turned on. "It's a very targeted approach," says Dr Bernd Groner from Georg-Speyer-Haus in Frankfurt, who looks at using specific peptides to halt cancer-related processes or to increase a cell's sensitivity to other anti-cancer treatments.
Conference sponsors include Embo, the Health Research Board, Cancer Research Ireland and the European Science Foundation.
The Irish Cancer Society's Action Breast Cancer helpline is staffed Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm. Call 1800-309040.