NZ breast cancer research causes a stir

A breakthrough by Auckland scientists seeking a way to treat breast cancer has excited both breast cancer patient advocates and health professionals.

The research team, led by Professor Peter Lobie, at Auckland University's Liggins Institute, has identified three molecules which are present in up to 90 per cent of breast cancers, and they believe the molecules are crucial to the spread of the disease.

"We've shown they result in poor patient survival because they're very powerful survival agents for cancer cells," Prof Lobie said.

The team has found ways to inhibit these molecules, and has already started testing on lab animals.

Trials on women could start within three years.

To stop the molecules spreading the cancer, the researchers developed a liquid that could one day help more women than Herceptin, a drug which targets only 20 per cent of breast cancers.

New Zealand's Breast Cancer Research Trust has formed a joint venture, called Perseis Therapuetics, with Australian-listed company Neuren Pharmaceuticals, to fund the project.

Trust spokesman Tony Moffatt said it had spent $1.2 million on the joint venture in the first year and future funding would depend on the project's success and whether or not it attracted investment from international pharmaceutical companies.

"We're optimistic, very optimistic, and we now have to work through the process as quickly as we can to see what comes out the other end," he said.

The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation is "cautiously optimistic" by the breakthrough.

"It is very rewarding to see that investment in local research is starting to pay dividends in the global quest to stop women dying from breast cancer," said the foundation's medical advisory committee chairwoman Belinda Scott.

Oncologists agreed with the research team that it was possible the discovery could lead to a cure for the disease, which affects one in eight New Zealand women, but that it could still be years away.

The breakthrough represents an international discovery and is at the leading edge of cancer research.

"People often don't believe that a cure for breast cancer could be found in New Zealand, but that's not true," Mr Moffatt told the New Zealand Herald.

"We are right up there and we are totally respected."

- NZPA