There is hope that drugs used for prostate cancer treatment may be effective in treating certain types of breast cancer.
Cancer Research UK figures indicate that in 2008 there were 48,034 people in the UK who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. This accounts for 16% of all cancers.
In females, breast cancers are often driven by oestrogen, the female sex hormone. In males, prostate cancer is often driven by androgens, the male sex hormones. For breast cancer, successful treatment has been experienced by the development of drugs which interfere with the action of the oestrogen, thus halting the progress of the growth. However, in some patients, those tumours which are not driven by the female hormone have been very difficult to treat. Researchers have discovered that these tumours are influenced by the male hormones. Androgens like testosterone, normally associated with male development, is also present in females.
Dr Ian Mills, the lead researcher, stated that the discovery indicates that patients with a type of oestrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer could potentially benefit from therapies that are currently being given to prostate cancer patients, and that this could transform treatment options for this particular patient group in the future.
This laboratory research is still in its early stages. If successful, this research could apply to up to 5% of all breast cancers. This will open new avenues of treatment for women with oestrogen receptor negative breast cancer. This particular group of females have fewer treatment options available to them and new methods of treatment are urgently needed.
