New anti-cancer compound shows promise for breast cancer

9 July 2013: Melbourne researchers have discovered that anti-cancer compounds currently in clinical trials for some types of leukaemia could offer hope for treating the most common type of breast cancer.

The researchers, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, found that the compounds, called BH3-mimetics, were effective in treating aggressive oestrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancers when combined with the breast cancer drug tamoxifen in preclinical models. Approximately 70 per cent of breast cancers are ER-positive.

The research team, led by Professor Geoff Lindeman, Professor Jane Visvader, Dr François Vaillant and Dr Delphine Merino from the institute's Breast Cancer Laboratory, said they hoped their results would lead to clinical trials of BH3-mimetics for treating ER-positive breast cancers in the next few years.

Media release: http://www.wehi.edu.au/site/latest_ne...