NEW YORK, April 12 (UPI) -- A team of New York researchers says a combination of drugs targeting four genes may halt the spread of breast cancer to the lungs.
The researchers, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said the genes -- the EREG gene, the Cox-2 gene, the MMP1 gene and the MMP2 gene -- may be necessary for the cancer to spread, WebMD reported Thursday.
The team, led by Joan Massague, injected breast cancer cells into mice and found that cancer cells where all four genes were inactive had difficulty growing new blood vessels and spreading into the lungs of the mice. However, in mice where only one of the genes was inactive, the cancer had no trouble spreading.
The scientists used a combination of three drugs, the cancer drug Erbitux, the anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex, and an experimental anti-inflammatory drug to target the four genes in some of the mice. Others were not given any drug treatments at all.
The study found that the drugs successfully stopped the cancer from reaching the lungs of the mice.
Massague said clinical trials of the drug combination are being discussed.
