A new discovery has led scientists to identify a molecule that can prove useful in the treatment of breast cancer. This molecule can treat patients whose bodies have rejected traditional treatment.
Eighty percent of breast cancer is sensitive to estrogen. Such breast cancers can be treated by traditional hormone therapy. However, one third of this cancer becomes resistant to traditional tamoxifen used therapies.
According to scientists, the spread of this form of cancer can be controlled by using the first in class molecule. First in class drugs target a protein on the estrogen receptor of the tumor cells.
The estrogen receptor can change its shape over the course of the therapy and make cancer cells to multiply again. Traditional drugs get attached to these receptors and allow for the multiplication of cancer cells.
Scientists have been trying to develop drugs to block the interaction between estrogen receptor and proteins that cause tumors to grow. The newfound drug works by blocking the interaction between proteins thereby giving better results to patients of breast cancer.
