Using the isolated gene, it will also be possible to make a benign cancer cell produce heparanase. If it does play an important role in cancer spread, this should make the benign cancer cell turn into a malignant one These experiments should confirm, one way or another, whether heparanase is essential for cancer cells to spread. If it is, the Jerusalem team can begin to search for ways to block the effects of heparanase which should prevent cancers from spreading and make them much less dangerous. This development is still a long way in the future, but it would represent an important step forward in the fight against cancer. Background cancer basics Genes are the coded instructions inside every living cell that contain all the information needed for life itself.
Genes tell the cell how to live, grow and divide.
Genes tell the cells how to work together to form a whole animal or plant. The cause of cancer also lies in the genes. When the genes which control the way that a cell grows and divides go wrong, this can make the cell become cancerous. Cancer cells grow and divide rapidly out of control. At the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, AICR is supporting the research of Professor Peter Nielsen, who is developing a new type of anti-cancer drug based on the chemical structure of genes.