Scientists achieve potential breakthrough in breast cancer after preserving tissue in gel | Breast cancer

Scientists say they have made a potentially revolutionary breakthrough in breast cancer research after discovering how to preserve breast tissue outside the body for at least a week.

The study, funded by the charity Prevent Breast Cancer, found that tissue could be preserved in a special gel solution, which would help scientists identify the most effective drug treatments for patients.

Experts found that preserved breast tissue retained its structure, cell types and ability to respond to a range of medications in the same way as normal breast tissue.

Published in the Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia, the research could support the development of new drugs to treat and prevent breast cancer, without the need for animal testing.

Dr Hannah Harrison, a researcher at the University of Manchester, said the discovery would help scientists test the most appropriate drugs on living tissue for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer.

She said: “There are various risk reduction options for women at high risk of developing breast cancer – for example those who have a strong family history or have mutations in the BRCA (breast cancer) genes. .

“However, not all medications work for all women. This new approach means we can begin to determine which drugs will work for which women by measuring their impact on living tissue.

“Ultimately, this means that women can take the most effective medication based on their particular genetic makeup.”

Harrison and his team were able to keep viable breast tissue outside the body for relatively long periods of time. “By testing different hydrogel formulations, we were able to find a solution that preserves human breast tissue for at least a week – and often even longer,” she said.

“This is truly a game changer for breast cancer research in many ways. We can better test drugs for cancer prevention and treatment, and examine how factors such as breast density – which we know to be a risk factor for breast cancer – respond to particular hormones or chemicals to see if this has an impact on the development of cancer. .”

The scientists used VitroGel gel solution to preserve the tissue.

In their work, they said the identification of new drugs had been “hampered by the lack of good preclinical models.”

What has been available so far cannot “fully recapitulate the complexities of human tissue, lacking human extracellular matrix, stroma, and immune cells, all of which are known to influence therapeutic response,” they said.

Lester Barr, consultant breast surgeon and founder of Prevent Breast Cancer, said: “Breast cancer mortality is falling in the UK thanks to improved screening and treatment options, but incidence continues to rise and breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. .

“It is therefore very important that we develop new prevention and risk reduction options for women, especially those at high risk due to family or genetic history.

“This advance means that researchers will be able to test new drugs in the laboratory with much greater precision, which should mean fewer drugs failing clinical trials and, ultimately, better outcomes for women affected by this disease. terrible disease.

“This is an extremely exciting development in animal-free research that puts us in a very strong position to find new drugs to prevent breast cancer.”

On average, almost 56,000 women a year in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer, according to figures from Cancer Research UK.

Globally, breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer, accounting for 11.6% of newly diagnosed cancer cases, behind lung cancer which accounts for 12.4% of new cases, according to the World Health Organization.

But breast cancer survival rates have improved significantly. Women diagnosed with early breast cancer are 66% less likely to die from the disease than 20 years ago, according to a University of Oxford study.

Figures from Cancer UK show that 76% of breast cancer patients survive 10 years or more.