Source: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Date: 3 August 2009
Summary:
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have found that a population of breast cells called luminal progenitor cells are likely to be responsible for breast cancers that develop in women carrying mutations in the gene BRCA1.
BRCA1 gene mutations are found in 10-20 per cent of women with hereditary breast cancer. Women with BRCA1 mutations often develop 'basal-like' breast cancer, which is a particularly aggressive form of the disease.
A team led by Associate Professors Jane Visvader and Geoff Lindeman from the institute's Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium Laboratory have discovered that luminal progenitor cells – the 'daughters' of breast stem cells – are the likely source of basal-like breast tumours. Their finding, published in today's issue of the international journal Nature Medicine, represents a major shift in the way scientists think breast cancer develops.
