Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Thrives by Producing its Own Growth Factors

"The study identified new targeted therapies for patients with triple-negative breast cancer focused on signaling molecules called cytokines, which are essentially hormones produced by the cells to tell breast cancer cells to grow."

"This study also found strategies that can be used to target the hormones' ability to stimulate cancer, including blocking the cytokines' receptors, suppressing the production of the IL-6 hormone, or blocking an intracellular signaling molecule that transmits the IL-6 and IL-8 signal to tell the cell to grow."

 "Any of those strategies causes the suppression of triple-negative breast cancer growth," says Brown. "There are available antibodies to the IL-6 receptor and inhibitors of the intracellular kinases called STAT proteins. These drugs are available for clinical trials to treat triple-negative breast cancer."

http://www2.mdanderson.org/cancerfrontline/2013/07/triple-negative-breast-cancer-thrives-by-producing-its-own-growth-factors.html (Click to story)