Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified 16 genes that breast cancer cells use to survive in the bloodstream after they've escaped the low-oxygen regions of a tumor.
Johns Hopkins MedicineNov 5 2024 Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified 16 genes that breast cancer cells use to survive in the bloodstream after they've escaped the low-oxygen regions of a tumor. Each is a potential therapeutic target to stop cancer recurrence, and one – MUC1 – is already in clinical trials. Deep in a tumor, full of rapidly dividing cells, cancer cells are faced with a lack of oxygen, a condition called hypoxia.
In laboratory studies, Gilkes' team color-coded hypoxic cells green, then applied a technique called spatial transcriptomics to identify which genes were turned on in the perinecrotic region, and that stayed on when the cells migrated to more oxygenated tumor regions. They compared cells in the primary tumors of mice with those that had entered the blood stream or the lungs. A subset of hypoxia-induced genes continued to be expressed long after cancer cells escaped the initial tumor.
Related StoriesAs part of their research model, Gilkes and team blocked MUC1 using a compound called GO-203 to see if it would reduce the spread of breast cancer cells to the lung. Their aim was to specifically eliminate aggressive, post-hypoxic metastatic cells.
Hypoxia Breast Cancer Genes Laboratory Metastasis Oncology Oxygen Ph Research Tumor
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