A cancer cell illustration

Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Austria (IMBA), on Wednesday, in Vienna, announced a potential breakthrough discovery that could aid in the prevention of genetically-determined breast cancer.

The team, which conducted the research in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, discovered that this form of breast cancer could largely be prevented by blocking a bone gene.

According to the IMBA in a statement, the variant of breast cancer is caused by a mutation in the BRCA1 gene.

It said that women with such mutation had an up to 87 per cent risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.

The Vienna-based team had in 2010, shown that sex hormones could trigger breast cancer through proteins called RANKL.

It added that their receptor RANK, was a key factor in bone metabolism and a normal process in providing breast cells with signals to tell them to grow.

“When they become deregulated, breast cells start to divide and multiply and fail to die as they should, ultimately resulting in breast cancer,’’ it said.

The researchers discovered that blocking the RANKL and RANK system in mice with the mutant BRCA1 gene, led to largely normal mammary glands, as opposed to invasive carcinomas found in the control group.

They noticed that applying the findings to humans, in women, who had undergone a preventative mastectomy, RANKL inhibition had led to a significant reduction in the growth and spread of breast tissue cells.

They said in evaluating the potential genetic modifiers of cancer risk in over 23,000 women, it was also found that genetic variants in the RANK gene were associated with a higher risk of developing cancer in women, who had BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

According to the researchers, the phase III clinical trials are now required to confirm the efficacy of the findings in humans.