Melbourne scientists’ breast cell study offers cancer treatment hope

MELBOURNE researchers have had a breakthrough which they hope can offer new ways to detect and treat an aggressive form of breast cancer.

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MELBOURNE researchers have taken another step forward in uncovering the science of what makes a breast, a finding they hope can offer new ways to detect and treat an aggressive form of breast cancer.

Building on its breakthrough discovery in 2006 — that breast stem cells give rise to all cells in the breast — the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research team has further uncovered three groups of stem cells located in different parts of the breast.

Using 3D imaging techniques and mathematical computer systems, they found a long-living type of stem cell ­responsible for growth of the milk-producing cells located around the nipple.

This cell type gets “awakened” by pregnancy hormones, but only in the specific region at the front of the breast.

Joint head of WEHI’s Stem Cells and Cancer laboratory, Jane Visvader, said the cells showed a “strikingly similar” signature to a subtype of triple negative breast cancer — claudin­-low — which had a particularly poor prognosis.

“It’s temping to believe there is some link between dormant breast stem cells and this very aggressive subtype of cancer,” Prof Visvader said.