[div style="font-weight: bold;" class="mxb"] [div class="sh"] Lost molecule key to lung cancer [/div] [/div] [!-- S BO --] [!-- S IIMA --] [table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="203"] [tbody][tr][td] [img alt="Image of a chest x-ray" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40961000/jpg/_40961695_x-ray203.jpg" border="0" height="152" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="203"] [div class="cap"]Lung cancer kills 30,000 in the UK each year[/div] [/td][/tr] [/tbody][/table] [!-- E IIMA --] [!-- S SF --]
The loss of a single type of protein molecule may play a key role in the development of 75% of the most common kind of lung cancer, research suggests. The researchers, from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, hope the finding could lead to new treatments for non-small cell lung cancer. [/p] The proteins help control cell growth and suicide, and blood vessel formation - all of which can go awry in cancer. [/p] The study is published in the British Journal of Cancer. [!-- E SF --] [!-- S IBOX --] [!-- E IBOX --] [/p] Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the world with more than 1.2 million new cases diagnosed every year, including more than 37,000 in the UK. [/p] Despite major advances in the understanding and treatment of the disease, it is still one of the most difficult cancers to treat. [/p] Samples [/p] The researchers compared samples of lung tumour tissue and corresponding healthy lung tissue taken from 46 lung cancer patients. [/p] They found that the key proteins were almost completely missing or were much reduced in 77% of the tumour samples. [/p] To confirm the importance of the proteins, the researchers examined tumour cells injected and grown in mice. [/p] They found cancer cells carrying the proteins formed smaller, less aggressive tumours than cells which did not. [/p] Lead researcher Professor Pran Datta said: "We've established for the first time that these important molecules are either missing or that their action is reduced in three quarters of all cases of lung cancer. [/p] "When we restored the molecules in lung cancer cells in mice they reduced the ability of the cells to grow as tumours." [/p] Professor Datta said the next step would be to discover how the proteins were lost during the development of lung cancer. [/p] Finding a way to intervene could lead to the development of new treatments for the disease. [/p] Professor John Toy, of Cancer Research UK, said: "Unravelling events that lead to the loss of normal molecules in cancer is extremely important in finding new ways to control the disease. [/p] "However, it's important to remember that the vast majority of cases of lung cancer are preventable as they are caused by smoking. The best way to reduce risk is to quit." [/p] The key proteins are called type 2 receptors for Transforming Growth Factor-b (TGF-b). [/p] It is members of the TGF-b family that control cell growth and death, and blood vessel formation. [/p][!-- E BO --]
