Irish scientists stop cancer cells spreading in mice

A TEAM including Irish scientists has successfully stopped cancer cells from spreading in mice. The researchers replaced protective molecules that had been inactivated in the cancer cells, and by doing so stopped the cells from metastasising, or spreading to other areas of the body.

Metastasis is responsible for about 90 per cent of deaths from solid tumours.

The researchers zoned in on "microRNAs", a group of tiny molecules in the cell that has recently been implicated in a number of diseases, said William Gallagher, associate professor of cancer biology at University College Dublin (UCD).

Their study, published this month in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, took three groups of cells derived from cancers of the skin, colon and head and neck and worked out which protective microRNAs had been turned off. Then they put working versions of the microRNA molecules back into the cells, where they appeared to exert their protective effect again.

"Taking individual micro- RNAs and putting them back in, you could stop tumours growing and spreading in animals," said Prof Gallagher who, along with his doctoral student Liam Faller at UCD's Conway Institute, collaborated with Spanish and US researchers on the project.

"There's a lot of investment now; biotech companies are working on ways of delivering microRNAs. They have been implicated in a variety of different diseases, and it seems to be a common mechanism across a number of different cancer types. It's one of the hottest topics," Prof Gallagher added.

However, he stressed that the research was still at an experimental, if promising, stage.