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A special technique where breast cancer cells are ‘rescued’ for research has been developed at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

The international breast cancer research team, part-funded by the European Research Council, discovered how receptors that mediate activity of the female sex hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) interact with DNA to control the growth of a large majority of breast cancers. Coupled with advanced scientific technologies pioneered by the UK’s University of Cambridge, the research provides an insight into the hormone regulation of breast cancers that could lead to new treatments for the disease.

Adelaide’s Professor Wayne Tilley developed the new technique. Providing details on the investigation, he said: “Traditionally, breast cancer tumours are destroyed once they have been removed from a patient. The new technique we have developed sees tumour cells from participating patients ‘rescued’ for research purposes.

“This technique, which is used to test current and new forms of therapy on tumour cells, has potential to one day provide an individualised treatment option for the patient, based on how the tumour responds to therapy. The method is also a vital research tool. It has helped shed light on the mystery of progesterone action that has confounded researchers and clinicians for a long time.”

Adding his thoughts, Cambridge’s Dr Jason Carroll said: “We used state-of-the-art DNA reading technology to create maps showing where the oestrogen receptor attaches to DNA to switch on genes.

“We then compared these maps in breast cancer cells grown with and without progesterone. This revealed how the ‘switched on’ progesterone receptor redirects the oestrogen receptor to different DNA regions – switching on a different set of genes that slow down cell growth.”

The full details are published in the journal Nature.