British scientists say they have found a gene that promotes the spread of most cancers, which WWP2 pharmacological blockade could represent a breakthrough in the fight against the disease.
The finding is the work of a team from the University of East Anglia led by Dr Andrew Chantry, who says that the identification of this gene may give way to medical solutions within a decade to stop the most aggressive cancers.
These cancers include breast, brain, colon and skin, spread especially fast.
“The challenge now is to identify a potent drug invasive cancer cells, destroying the activity of the defective gene,” says Chantry, whose work is published in the latest edition of the medical journal Oncogene.
“We have begun to experiment with a molecule that we think can do the job. If that’s the case, we will lay the foundations for a new generation of a single drug for various cancers,” said the expert.
The WWP2 is the product of an enzyme that binds the chemical elements within the cells and is present in all human bodies. “We all have the gene, but when defective hijacks this process and helps the cancer grow and spread to other parts of the body. This is what eventually kills,” said Dr. Chantry.
In case you develop a drug that deactivates the WWP2, conventional therapies and surgery may limit the primary cancerous tumors without the risk of being installed in other parts of the body.
Dr. Chantry forecast that this treatment is less invasive and has fewer side effects can be applied within five to ten years. Cancer Resarch Group (Cancer Research) in the United Kingdom welcomed the finding, but with some caution.
“In recent decades, researchers around the world have discovered genes that drive the growth and spread of cancer and this research is one in a list that keeps growing,” said Kat Arney, a spokesman for the organization.