British Scientists identified new genes involved in breast cancer

British researchers have identified new sets of genes involved in the development of breast cancer. These researchers at the University of Cambridge in England examined 53 breast cancer tumors and cells grown in the laboratory and narrowed down the possibility to few genes that could be responsible for the development of breast cancer.

"By using the latest in DNA technology we've been able to pinpoint four new genes likely to be involved in the development of breast cancer," said Professor Carlos Caldas, who headed the research team.

"Not only is this an exciting advance toward understanding how breast cancer develops, it also heralds a revolutionary new era in the discovery of genes linked breast cancer," he added in a statement.

He and his team used DNA microarray technology, which enables scientists to analyze the expression of many genes at the same time, to search for the breast cancer genes.

"Hopefully this cutting edge technology will trigger a parallel increase in the speed at which new cancer treatments reach the patient," Caldas said.

Early results indicate that breast cancer tumors with multiple copies of the genes are more aggressive.

"If this is confirmed, it might provide a lead for targeted therapies in these cases of breast cancer," Caldas added.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in American wome.

Cancer terms:
In vitro: In vivo is something that is done in a test tube or laboratory. Cancer cells are often grown in tissue cultures on plates or test tubes. Studies are done on these cells to see how they grow and react. If some one says drug A has been found effective in preventing multiplication in vitro that means drug A was found to do this on cells growing in some laboratory. See cancer terms for more cancer related terms.