Brain cells found to hold key to growth of certain brea...( BOSTONThe ability of some breast cancer...),Health

In a study to be published in the Sept. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (and now available on the publication's website, www.pnas.org), investigators led by Kornelia Polyak, M.D., Ph.D., report that a protein known to enhance the survival of certain brain cells is present in about 10 percent of invasive breast tumors. The protein, called dermcidin, or DCD, was also found to contribute to cachexia, a muscle-wasting and weight-losing condition that afflicts many cancer patients.

"The fact that DCD protects nerve cells in the brain from damage suggests it may have a similar effect on certain breast cancer cells by enabling them to grow faster and avoid apoptosis [the natural process that causes cells to die after a set number of divisions]," says Polyak, the study's senior author. "It appears that the same substance that is beneficial in the case of nerve cells can play a harmful role in the development of certain breast cancers."

The discovery of DCD's effect on different types of cells may lead to new ways of treating not only breast cancer but also conditions such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease, which involve the death of large numbers of brain cells.

Polyak and her colleagues decided to focus on DCD after finding it to be especially prevalent in invasive breast cancer cells. Using sophisticated gene-screening techniques, they tested 600 breast tumor samples and determined that although normal breast cells do not contain the protein, it is overabundant in about 10 percent of all invasive breast cancers.

A British research team had previously discovered that only two other types of cells in the body normally produce DCD: nerve cells of the brain and cells of the
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Contact: Bill Schaller
william_schaller@dfci.harvard.edu
617-632-5357
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
8-Sep-2003