The greatest weapon in our arsenal against breast cancer has been early detection of cancer - followed by treatments to fight cancer once it's been detected. But doctors now are looking for ways to prevent it. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas recently discovered that an enzyme called telomerase may be able to help prevent cells from becoming cancerous. By attacking this enzyme, doctors may be able to prevent cancer from starting. Telomerase promotes cell growth.
Normal cells stop dividing to create new cells when they reach the end of their natural life span.
But cancerous cells divide uncontrollably, becoming almost immortal. UT Southwestern doctors treated cell cultures from normal breast tissue from a woman with a high genetic risk for breast cancer with agents designed to stop telomerase from functioning. Almost none of these cells began dividing in a way that indicates cancer. Previously, researchers had determined that telomerase could help doctors detect cancer at the very earliest stages because it is present in almost all cancerous cells. But this new finding means that scientists may be able to develop treatments to prevent cancer from ever developing.