Breast cancer discovery turns previous thinking on its head
Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:26 pmYear by year the failures of chemotherapy are slowly becoming exposed – frequently from within orthodox medical research itself. Last year, for example, cancer academics discovered that chemo accelerates the formation of cancer stem cells, thus explaining why, despite some initial “remission”, cancer often returns with a vengeance…..requiring yet more chemo.
A recent bombshell discovery from researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) is that chemo can cripple the immune system in a very specific way - by disabling its cancer detection system. Take breast cancer. UEA have found that a key way the immune system is triggered to mount an initial attack on breast cancer cells is by detecting a particular enzyme produced by the nascent cancer cells. The enzyme’s called MMP-8 (matrix metalloproteinase-8) and it’s been known about for years, of course. The problem is that experts were convinced MMP-8 was very bad news, as they thought it encouraged the spread of cancer. So chemo drugs were developed to attack MMP-8….with predictably catastrophic results. Far from reducing breast cancer, the drugs increased it.
The UEA breakthrough in finding that MMP-8 is, on the contrary, very good news for breast cancer has now led to research to encourage breast cancer cells to produce more MMP-8, in order to further stimulate the immune system. “Breast tumour cells that over-produce MMP-8 don't survive long-term: the enzyme stops them growing," says UEA‘s Professor Dylan Edwards.
This opens out the prospect of treatments that will work with the immune system rather than against it. Medicine may be finally seeing the light.
Ref: S. Thirkettle, J. Decock, H. Arnold, C. J. Pennington, D. M. Jaworski, D. R. Edwards. Matrix metalloproteinase-8 (collagenase-2) induces the expression of interleukins-6 and -8 in breast cancer cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2013; DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M113.464230
- new thinking.jpg (10.21 KiB) Viewed 5037 times
A recent bombshell discovery from researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) is that chemo can cripple the immune system in a very specific way - by disabling its cancer detection system. Take breast cancer. UEA have found that a key way the immune system is triggered to mount an initial attack on breast cancer cells is by detecting a particular enzyme produced by the nascent cancer cells. The enzyme’s called MMP-8 (matrix metalloproteinase-8) and it’s been known about for years, of course. The problem is that experts were convinced MMP-8 was very bad news, as they thought it encouraged the spread of cancer. So chemo drugs were developed to attack MMP-8….with predictably catastrophic results. Far from reducing breast cancer, the drugs increased it.
The UEA breakthrough in finding that MMP-8 is, on the contrary, very good news for breast cancer has now led to research to encourage breast cancer cells to produce more MMP-8, in order to further stimulate the immune system. “Breast tumour cells that over-produce MMP-8 don't survive long-term: the enzyme stops them growing," says UEA‘s Professor Dylan Edwards.
This opens out the prospect of treatments that will work with the immune system rather than against it. Medicine may be finally seeing the light.
- rallying the troops of the immune system.jpg (12.03 KiB) Viewed 5037 times
Ref: S. Thirkettle, J. Decock, H. Arnold, C. J. Pennington, D. M. Jaworski, D. R. Edwards. Matrix metalloproteinase-8 (collagenase-2) induces the expression of interleukins-6 and -8 in breast cancer cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2013; DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M113.464230