Discoveries
Dana-Farber researchers help find previously unknown gene connected to many breast cancers
According to the modern understanding of cancer, normal cells turn dangerous because of gene mutations that enable them to grow uncontrollably. A single cancer cell may contain numerous mutations, and it can be difficult to single out the key genes causing the cancer from among others that are innocent bystanders.
Now scientists from Dana-Farber, collaborating with other Boston research centers, have come up with a way of narrowing a large amount of gene-hunting data to pinpoint particular causative genes. They used the technique to discover a previously unknown gene that is abnormal in about one-third of all breast cancers. Researchers say the gene – called IKBKE – is a prime target for future cancer drugs.
"Current technology allows us to locate dozens or even hundreds of gene abnormalities in cancer cells," explains William Hahn, MD, PhD, co-senior author of a report published in the journal Cell. In that report, Hahn and his colleagues described how they used three different large-scale techniques in an interactive manner to identify the new gene. "Each method helps 'filter' the information from the previous one, enabling us to zero in on the strongest candidate gene," says Hahn, who is affiliated with Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Unlike rare breast cancer-susceptibility genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, the IKBKE gene is not inherited from a parent. Instead, the mutation in the gene occurs during a woman's lifetime, causing the overproduction of a protein that triggers abnormal cell growth.
