Italian scientists find breast cancer metastasis key

Discovery of osteopontin's action 'could help find a cure'

(ANSA) - Milan, September 2 - Researchers at Milan's National Cancer Institute have identified the mechanism responsible for metastasis in breast cancer, an article in Cancer Research medical journal reported Tuesday.

This mechanism is "of vital importance" in understanding how cancer spreads, and can aid in the search for an effective cure, experts said. The mechanism is based on a protein called osteopontin, which normally regulates processes related to cell survival, but which takes on a double role when found within a tumor. "When produced by a cancerous cell, osteopontin helps ensure its survival in a hostile world," researchers explained. "When produced by cancer cells that are in the process of metastasizing, or spreading to other organs, osteopontin protects them from the immune system". The study was conducted firs on animals and then on patients whose breast cancer spread to the lungs. "This discovery will help develop new medication that can fight the multiple actions of osteopontin in the development of mestastasis," the researchers said.