Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK
"The team looked at breast cancers from almost 3000 patients. Their search had a particular focus: they examined changes to genes that affect the behaviour of stem cells and developing tissues, because other work they have done suggests that such genes, when mutated, can often drive cancer development. Among these was BCL11A.
"Our understanding of genes that drive stem cell development led us to search for consequences when these genes go wrong," says Dr Pentao Liu, senior author on the study, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "BCL11A activity stood out because it is so active in triple-negative cancers.
"It had all the hallmarks of a novel breast cancer gene."Higher activity of the BCL11A gene was found in approximately eight out of ten patients with basal-like breast cancer and was associated with a more advanced grade of tumour. In cases where additional copies of the BCL11A gene were created in the cancer, the prospects for survival of the patient were diminished..."
Clink link for full story:
http://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/press/2015/150109.html