RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY NEW GENE ASSOCIATED WITH BREAST CANCER

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RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY NEW GENE ASSOCIATED WITH BREAST CANCER
08 April 2003 - American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

Researchers have identified a new gene, C35, that appears to be closely associated with breast cancer. Of the breast cancer tissues tested, more than sixty percent over-expressed the C35 gene, according to data published in the Proceedings for the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The study also found that the C35 gene was only over-expressed in breast cancer cells, and is not evident in any normal tissues in women.

"While large scale clinical studies have not yet been completed to confirm the prevalence of C35 in breast cancer patients, we are excited about these results and hope that C35 may eventually become a target of therapy and predictor of prognosis in breast cancer," said Deepak M. Sahasrabudhe, M.D., director of the Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program and Professor of Medicine and Oncology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York.

The study, a collaboration between the University of Rochester and Vaccinex, Inc., found that the C35 gene is located on chromosome 17 adjacent to the oncogene that encodes HER2/neu (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2). Development of therapy targeting HER2/neu has been a major advance for breast cancer patients.

The study showed that the protein encoded by the C35 gene was over-expressed in 65 percent of the breast cancers. Researchers compared it with HER2/neu, which is expressed in approximately 30 percent of breast cancers, and is associated with a more virulent form of breast cancer. In breast cancer, the grade of the tumor refers to the degree of malignancy or differentiation of tumor tissue, e.g., well, moderately well, or poorly differentiated, and undifferentiated or anaplastic. Prognosis of patients with higher grade (grades II/III) cancers is worse. In grade II/III tumors, 34 percent tested positive for both C35 and HER2/neu and 31 percent were positive for C35 and negative for HER2/neu. All cells that expressed HER2/neu also over-expressed C35. There were no cases that were positive for HER2/neu and negative for C35.

They found that C35 accumulates within the core of tumor cells. As the cells are killed, the C35 is released from the dying cell through internal membranes into surrounding tissue. Researchers are working to develop a diagnostic test to detect the presence of C35 protein or antibodies to that protein in a patient's blood and to develop potential treatments.

Researchers believe that traditional treatment methods alone will not be effective against C35 positive breast cancer, much in the same way that they are not effective against HER2/neu positive breast cancer. "We believe that future treatment of C35 positive breast cancer will be a two-pronged approach," said Dr. Sahasrabudhe. "It may entail an agent targeting C35, together with standard radio- or chemotherapy to induce further tumor cell death. A vaccine therapy to prevent the growth of C35-expressing tumor cells might also be a treatment approach."

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in women. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2003 more than 266,000 women and 1,300 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 39,000 women and 400 men will die from the disease.

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About: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
The American Association for Cancer Research is a professional society of more than 24,000 laboratory and clinical scientists engaged in basic, translational, and clinical cancer research in the United States and more than 60 other countries. Founded in 1907, the AACR has as its mission to accelerate the prevention and cure of cancer through research, education, communication, collaboration and advocacy. Among the means to that end, the association publishes five major peer-reviewed scientific journals: Cancer Research – the most frequently cited cancer journal in the world – as well as Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

The AACR convenes an Annual Meeting attended by more than 15,000 scientists from around the world who share new and significant discoveries in the cancer field. Specialty meetings throughout the year focus on all the important areas of basic, translational and clinical cancer research.

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