Scientists discover molecule linked to breast cancer survival

Researchers have discovered a molecule which could play a key role in the future treatment of breast cancer patients.

A team from the University of Aberdeen has isolated serpin B3 as a biological agent that could be protecting cancerous cells from being destroyed by a standard anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimen.

As a result, the scientists hope that testing for the presence of this molecule could allow clinicians to determine whether to opt for treatment with Taxanes, a more aggressive chemotherapy drug which will have a greater chance of killing the cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Elaina Collie-Duguid told attendees of the British Breast Cancer Research Conference in Nottingham that this could represent a "major finding" in treating a disease which affects one in nine women in the UK.

Professor Steve Heys, cancer research programme leader at the University of Aberdeen, added that the team now plans to conduct a trial "where the presence of the molecule in a patient's breast cancer will be used to determine their treatment protocol".

This comes after Cancer Research UK reported earlier this month that its scientists have discovered a DNA-based biological process which cancer cells may be using in order to survive and reproduce indefinitely.