This gene-targeting research will use breast tissue from which the APC gene has been removed, to investigate how the damaged APC gene causes tumours to form. Dr Mason will carry out a range of in-depth studies of breast cells, including measuring how quickly normal and cancerous cells grow, divide and die. This approach promises to provide us with unique insights into how APC affects breast tissue, including during milk production, and how breast tumours grow. Studies like this one are essential if we are to interpret how genes control the growth of both normal cells and cancer cells. This type of knowledge is vital in attempting to understand and prevent the fundamental causes of all cancers, including breast cancer.
Every cell contains genes, which are sets of instructions for all the functions of our cells.
Sometimes a gene can get damaged so that the instructions it contains become faulty. Some genes are responsible for switching off cells when their normal period of growth and division has ended. If there is damage to this type of gene, cells may not be switched off at the right time and can continue to divide indefinitely, becoming cancer cells.