Scientists found that the main cause of breast cancer spread is "high cholesterol"

A new study from the University of Illinois found that the main cause of breast cancer spread is the by-product of cholesterol metabolism, which acts on specific immune cells, thus promoting the spread of cancer cells, rather than preventing the spread of cancer cells The study, published in the journal Nature communications, found a molecule called 27HC, a new potential drug target for breast cancer, which can inhibit the production or effect of dangerous cholesterol by-products "The impact of breast cancer is very large, at least one in eight women has breast cancer We have developed a good treatment, but many women will experience metastatic breast cancer When breast cancer spreads to other organs, we really have no effective treatment at this point We want to find out what drives this process and whether we can deal with it with drugs, "said Eric Nielsen, Professor of molecular and integrative physiology who led the study Nelson's team fed high cholesterol food to mice with breast cancer The researchers confirmed that high cholesterol levels increased tumor growth and metastasis, while mice treated with cholesterol lowering drugs had fewer metastases Then they went further, specifically inhibiting the enzyme that produces 27HC in cholesterol metabolism "By inhibiting the enzyme that makes 27HC, we found the effect of inhibitors on breast cancer metastasis." This study suggests that drug therapy for this enzyme may be an effective treatment, "said Amy Baker, a postdoctoral researcher in Illinois and the first author of the paper The researchers also found abnormal activity of specific immune cells at the 27HC transfer site "Normally, your body's immune system has the ability to attack cancer," Nelson said, "but we found that 27HC works on immune cells, making them mistakenly believe that cancer is not harmful to their bodies." Instead, it hijacks the immune system to help cancer spread Because 27HC passes through the immune system, not in breast cancer itself, the researchers believe their findings have wide applicability to solid tumors They conducted experiments on colon cancer, lung cancer, melanoma and pancreatic cancer, and found that 27HC can inhibit the metastasis of all tumor types, which shows that the treatment for 27HC can be effective in a variety of cancer types Researchers are trying to learn more about the effect of 27HC on immune cells In a clinical partner at Urbana Carle Foundation Hospital, the team is working to determine whether 27HC has the same pathway in human patients as in mice.