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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> August
> August 20, 1999:
Hour Two: Creating Cancer Cells/Breast Cancer Update
| For some time, scientists have been able to turn normal mouse cells into cancerous cells by introducing known cancer-causing genes into them, but for some reason human cells have been resistant to this process. That has all changed now. Recently, researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have for the first time been able to turn human cells into specific types of cancer cells. This is an important step in understanding the process by which human cells become cancerous, and during the first part of hour two we will talk about the development and its implications.
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We'll also talk about the latest developments in breast cancer
research. The rise in breast cancer research and awareness has
been massive, but the news is not all good: We now know that
breast cancer can be inherited from mothers and fathers,
and that the genes that cause breast cancer can also affect
men. As for those genes—BRCA-1 and BRCA-2—scientists
now know of hundreds of different mutations that can confer
a different degree of risk. And if that weren't enough, the
same gene defect may produce a different amount of risk in different
women.
So far, "designer estrogens" or SERMS (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators) have shown promise—they prevent osteoporosis and cardiovascular problems the same way the body's estrogen does, but do not stimulate breast tumor growth like natural estrogen. In fact, one of them, Tamoxifen, has been shown to reduce cancer risk by 50 percent in women of all ages. The only problem is that Tamoxifen stops working in women who use it for more than five years.
But scientists at Duke University Medical Center have identified a likely reason why. They say their discovery could lead to new and better drugs. We'll talk to one of those researchers during our second hour of Science Friday.
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A breast cancer cell.
(Courtesy Natl. Cancer Institute) |
Guests:
Donald McDonnell
Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
Clifford Hudis
Chief of Breast Cancer Medicine Services
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York
William Hahn
Oncologist
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
Postdoctoral Fellow
Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Science Friday January 24, 1997, Hour 1: Conversation with Dr. Richard Klausner
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
National Institute of Health's Understanding Breast Changes page
- This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Brad Kloza
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