An Indian scientist ' identifies' breast cancer culprit

An Indian-origin scientist-led team claims to have discovered a culprit in breast cancer - a master control switch with the power to set off a cascade of reactions orchestrated by a cancer-causing gene named Wnt1.

Although the cancer-causing gene (or oncogene) Wnt1 has been connected with breast cancer for over 30 years, the signals that trigger it remain largely unknown.

Now, Prof Rakesh Kumar of Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and colleagues have pinpointed the so-called switch which sparks a type of Wnt signalling in breast cancer, the 'Cancer Research' journal reported.

Moreover, the scientists say that this master control switch may explain why increased levels of a protein called MTA1 (metastasis-associated protein 1) are oncogenic in certain types of breast cancer.

Like many molecular pathways underlying cancer, Wnt pathways govern normal processes like embryonic development and the communication between cells in healthy people. For reasons little understood, however, certain types of Wnt proteins sometimes go awry, sending off cascades of signals that turn normal cells into cancerous ones.