Researchers halt metastasis with enzyme blocker

Professor Marco Falasca and a team of researchers at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry say that by stopping cancer cells from producing an enzyme known as PLCg1, they were able to prevent metastasis in mice. If researchers can find a drug that blocks the enzyme, they add, the developers could theoretically stop cancer before it can spread.

"This is a really exciting piece of research," science adviser Dr Mark Matfield told The Telegraph. "The simple fact is that if you stop metastasis, you stop cancer from killing people. We now need to focus on developing drugs that can block PLCg1." 

Working with mice, the investigators were able to stop breast cancer cells from migrating into the lungs. But the approach had little effect on the primary tumor.

"At present, no specific PLCg1 inhibitors are available, and therefore, there is a stringent need to develop novel-specific PLCg1 inhibitors," says Falasca.

- read the report from the Telegraph

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