US Researchers Discover New Breast Cancer Gene

Broadcast: Jan 21, 2003

U.S. researchers have discovered another breast cancer gene¹ that may provide a new point of attack against the disease. The ¹⁾molecule is common to many types of breast cancer.

Scientists at the U.S. government's National Cancer Institute found the gene while looking in test tubes at cells extracted from different types of breast cancers. They were on a genetic² fishing expedition, not knowing what they would catch. Their goal was to find any proteins produced in abundance in breast cancer cells, but absent in healthy tissues.

Proteins are the product of genes³ and carry out the functions of life. A protein found in cancer but not in normal tissue is seen as a clear sign of a cancer gene at work.

The laboratory probe of breast cancer cells yielded 3,000 proteins unrelated to any known genes. Research leader Ira Pastan says one gene in particular caught researchers attention because it was present in many types of breast cancer, both local tumors and those that had ²⁾metastasized, or spread.

"We examined how frequently the gene is expressed in breast cancer and it is expressed in about half of the samples we analyzed," he said. "The only other place we found the gene to be expressed besides breast cancer is ³⁾salivary⁴ gland⁵. And I guess that is not entirely⁶ surprising since in development of organs, salivary gland and breast glands⁷ have a common origin."

The function of the gene, called BASE, is not yet known, but the researchers' study published in the Proceedings⁸ of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences says its structure suggests it is secreted⁹ from breast cancer cells into the blood rather than working only within cells. This is useful because it could be detected by a simple blood test, helping¹⁰ diagnose many different types of breast cancer. Mr. Pastan's group is developing such a test.

"The second importance of the finding is since the protein is made by lots of breast cancers, it could be used as a target for new ⁴⁾vaccines to treat breast cancer," he said. "The side effect might be dryness of the mouth or some other response related to salivary gland damage, but that would be an acceptable side effect, we think, if we could do something to treat metastatic breast cancer." The researchers say this is not the type of breast cancer gene that is ⁵⁾inherited and which creates a ⁶⁾predisposition to breast cancer. Rather, it is found in the far more common ⁷⁾sporadic, or random¹², breast cancers in which cells mutate in response to some environmental factor.

Although scientists have discovered hundreds of genes involved in breast cancer, some are more influential¹³ in development of the disease than others. The newly discovered gene, calls BASE, appears to be one of them, according to breast cancer treatment physician Lyndsay Harris of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

"What sets certain genes apart is that they appear to drive the process," he said. "Everything flows from them. The BASE gene has characteristics like that. It is on the surface of the cells. It's a receptor. These are things that make it a little more likely to be important at driving the process of ⁸⁾carcinogenesis."

At the National Cancer Institute, the researchers say their next goal now that they have found the new gene is to figure out how to attack it with drugs or a vaccine¹¹.

David McAlary VOA news, Washington.

1)    molecule[5mClikju:l, 5mEu-]n. [化]分子, 颗粒

2)    metastasize[mE5tAstE7saiz]vi. 转移

3)    salivary[5sAlivEri]adj. 唾液的, 分泌唾液的

4)    vaccine[5vAksi:n]n. 疫苗

5)    inherited[In`herItId]adj. 遗传的

6)    predisposition[pri:7dispE5ziFEn]n. 易患病的体质

7)    sporadic[spE5rAdik]adj. 零星的

8)    carcinogenesis[9kB:sInEJ`dVenIsIs]n. [医]癌发生,致癌作用

 

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

4 salivary   

adj. 唾液的

参考例句：

• Small doses depress salivary and bronchial secretion and sweating. 小剂量可抑制唾液分泌、支气管分泌及出汗。
• The five pairs of salivary glands open into the mouth. 有五对唾液腺通向口腔。

5 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 glands   

n.腺( gland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a snake's poison glands 蛇的毒腺
• the sebaceous glands in the skin 皮脂腺

8 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

9 secreted   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
• He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

12 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

13 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。