A malignant ‘switch’ in breast cancer
A team of researchers led by David J. Mooney, the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), has identified a possible mechanism by which normal cells turn malignant in mammary epithelial tissues, which are frequently involved in breast cancer. Dense mammary tissue has long been recognized as a strong indicator of risk for breast cancer. This is why regular breast examinations are considered essential to early detection. Until now, however, the significance of that tissue density has been poorly understood. By isolating mechanical and biological variables one by one in vitro, Mooney and his research team discovered how the physical forces and chemical environment in those dense tissues can drive cells into a dangerously invasive, proliferating mode. The findings were published online in Nature Materials. “While genetic mutations are at the root of cancer, a number of studies over the last 10 to...