Silencing a deadly conversation in breast cancer

It is known that breast cancer cells create the conditions suitable for their ongoing survival by communicating their needs to the healthy cells that surround them. In a recent discovery Australian researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have identified a novel way of inhibiting that cellular cross talk.

Researchers have shown that a molecule known as ‘hedgehog’ plays a central role in transmitting biochemical signals between the breast cancer cells and healthy cells.

When this conversation is blocked – or hedgehog is ‘silenced’ – tumours shrink and do not spread. While the finding applies to all breast cancers, it is particularly relevant for women with basal breast cancer, for which there is no current targeted therapy.