Treatment outcomes for breast cancer have become better over the years, but proportion of breast cancers still recur even after long periods without signs of cancer remaining dormant in the body. Finnish cancer researchers discovered a mechanism that wakes up these dormant breast cancer cells and demonstrated that preventing the mechanism can significantly improve treatment outcomes in experimental models. Although treatment outcomes for breast cancer have significantly improved through new research-based therapies, it remains the second most common fatal cancer in women.
A particular challenge in breast cancer treatment is the recurrence of the disease. Even when treatment appears to be successful and the cancer is considered gone, it can return years later either locally or, in the worst case, by spreading to other parts of the body, such as the brain. The reasons why dormant breast cancer cells awake even after several years are not well understood.
However, identifying these reasons could provide an opportunity to develop new therapies to prevent cancer recurrence. DUSP6 protein activity associated with awakening of the breast cancer cells A newly-published Finnish study provides important new insights into how breast cancer cells belonging to the HER2-positive subtype are able to awaken during treatment. The research group led by Jukka Westermarck, the Professor of Cancer Biology at the Turku Bioscience Centre and the InFLAMES research flagship of the University of Turku.
