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Wednesday, June 18, 2003Approximately 20 genes involved in the spread -- or metastasis -- of prostate cancer have already been identified. The new one -- designated RKIP, which produces the RKIP protein -- is important because it serves as a kind of traffic cop. It acts early to stop cancer cells from leaving the prostate and entering the bloodstream and wreaking havoc, says a report in the June 18 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "There is a metastatic cascade, in which the cells enter the blood vessels, then go into a target organ, then grow there," says study author Evan T. Keller, an assistant professor of comparative medicine and pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School. "This gene [RKIP] works at an early stage in the cascade. If you can block that stage, you could prevent the cascade," he explains. ...The researchers spent three and a half years studying the workings of the gene, starting in a laboratory with two lines of human cancer cells -- one non-metastatic, one metastatic. The scientists first found the RKIP gene was relatively inactive in the metastatic cells. Then they began more specific measurements. One critical test used cancer cells taken from prostate cancer patients within hours of their death, when the fragile molecules involved in RKIP activity were still present. RKIP levels in 12 samples of non-metastatic cancers were close to those of healthy cells. But no RKIP protein was found in any of the 22 samples of metastatic prostate cancer. The hope is that they can introduce the gene into cancer cells to help halt their spread through the body. Someday. posted by Sydney on 6/18/2003 06:10:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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