University researchers discover breast cancer gene

In an article published in the Jan. 6 issue of the scientific journal Cancer Cell, the research team detailed the properties of the gene, which is present in roughly one-third of patients with breast cancer.

According to the article, the newly discovered gene increases the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy and facilitates metastasis, the spread of cancerous cells to other parts of the body.

Kang explained in an e-mail that Metadherin — and similar still-undiscovered genes — may change the landscape of cancer treatments by revealing the common molecular cause of metastasis and drug resistance.

“This study shows that the two evil faces of cancer may be linked by a special class of dual-functional genes,” he said. “By targeting this type of gene, we may be able to kill two birds with one stone: Increase the efficacy of chemotherapy, and at the same time reduce the risk of metastasis.”

Andres Blanco GS, one of the article’s co-authors, said the study also demonstrates the synergy between computational and experimental biology.

“The gene most likely would not have been found if we did not have the bioinformatics approach,” Blanco said.

Blanco explained that the team first used computational approaches to predict that such a gene would be located in a region of chromosome eight in breast cancer patients.

Of the many genes in that region of the chromosome, only Metadherin was relevant in the study of cancer. Experiments then showed a strong correlation between the presence of Metadherin and aggressive, drug-resistant cancers, Blanco said.

Both Kang and Blanco noted the difficulty of isolating the gene.

Blanco said that the entire project took three years. Roughly one-and-a-half years were spent performing the actual research, and most of the remaining time was spent preparing the findings for publication.

In that time, Kang had to build a “team of collaborators” composed of people with various specializations. “You do need people with different expertises to make this research possible,” he said.

Moreover, Kang explained that many research avenues his team pursued turned out to be dead ends.

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“What people may not understand about [this research] is that you have to endure many failures,” he said.

These failures, Kang explained, are integral to the scientific process. “The earlier the students realize that success in science is through many failures, the earlier they become mature scientists,” he said.

When their work finally bore fruit, though, Kang likened his excitement to parenthood.

“It’s probably comparable with the birth of your child,” Kang said.