Protein behind breast cancer's spread to brain identified

Scientists have identified a protein behind breast cancer spread to the brain which can prove to be a 'promising' new target to fight the disease.
Brain metastasis is a terrifying complication of advanced breast cancer, with a grim prognosis and few treatment options.
The cancer's spread to the brain is often undetected until patients start to develop symptoms such as seizures, headaches, and trouble thinking.
Scientists hope a better understanding of the molecular events that regulate brain metastasis will lead to earlier diagnosis and improved therapies.
Using cell models, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that breast cancer cells harness a protein called alphaB-crystallin to help them stick to endothelial cells that line the small blood vessels in the brain.

In addition, this protein enhances the penetration of breast cancer cells through the blood-brain barrier, which normally prevents cells and many molecules from entering the brain.

Once in the brain, the breast cancer cells are able to form metastases.
The study was led by Dr Vincent Cryns, professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a member of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.
Cryns and his colleagues also developed new mouse models of breast-cancer brain metastasis that mimic many features of the human disease.
They found that reducing the expression of alphaB-crystallin in breast cancer cells hindered the cells' ability to form brain metastases in mice.

"These observations in our mouse models suggest that alphaB-crystallin may be a promising drug target that should be explored further," said Cryns.
"Although there are no drug inhibitors of this protein currently, we are actively pursuing studies to identify drugs that might reduce the expression of the protein or block its effects," he added.
The study was published in Clinical Cancer Research.