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THE GENETIC UNDERPINNINGS of breast cancer are coming into remarkably clearer focus, says an international team of scientists whose findings regarding tumor-causing mutations were published recently in Nature. Researchers examined the genomes of more than 500 breast cancers in American, Asian and European patients to determine precisely where mutations that can foster the cancer occur, according to the European Bioinformatics Institute, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. They found 93 genes that can lead to tumors if they mutate, BBC News reported. While some of those genes had been identified previously, the new data indicate that three-fifths of the cancer-causing mutations are confined to only 10 genes. The research could spur new avenues of research about breast cancer prevention and personalized treatment, the scientists say. ■ — By Steve Barrett A P O S S I B L E N E W means of treating an advanced form of prostate cancer disrupts the primary way the cancer cells grow and spread, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Androgen receptor activity is the most common means by which prostate cancer cells spread. In order to disrupt that activity, research- ers treated prostate cancer cell lines and animal models with molecules that target a nuclear receptor protein, ROR-γ, which is believed to regulate the androgen receptor gene. The focus of the research was androgen-independent or castration-resistant prostate cancer. "In mouse models of castration-resistant disease, treatment with ROR-γ inhibitors led to substantial and prolonged shrinkage of tumors, and in mice with tumors that had been resistant to the AR-targeted therapy enzalutamide (Xtandi), the treatment appeared to restore their sensitivity to the drug," the NCI reported. The fi ndings appeared in Nature Medicine. ■ • By Steve Barrett A New Chapter in Cancer Detection Tracking Breast Cancer-causing Mutations A Promising Approach to Fighting Prostate Cancer New Chapter in Tracking Breast A N E X T R E M E L Y S E N S I T I V E o p t i ca l biosensor could herald a new era in cancer detection, according to the scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland who developed the device. Nanostructured metamaterials in the device have 1 million times greater sensitivity than prior versions, Medical News Today reports. That permits detection of cancer-linked pro- tein molecules that often are not concentrated enough or large enough early in the cancer process to identify by conventional methods. The biosensor can detect a protein molecule that weighs less than 800 quadrillionths of a©nanogram. This advance may pave the way to spotting cancers sooner and thereby enhancing treat- ment and improving prognoses, according to researchers. They say it is not yet clear how much earlier oncologists potentially may be able to fi nd cancers by using the device, which is in testing. T h e r e s e a r c h a p p e a r e d o n l i n e i n Nature Materials. ■ — By Steve Barrett 1 5 M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A L P E N N S Y LVA N I A ■ 2 016 T H A T ' S N E W S ❰❰❰❰❰ 1 5