Ground-breaking discovery could help cure breast cancer

Australian researchers have made a ground-breaking discovery that could help cure breast cancer.

They have identified a protein for controlling milk production after pregnancy, which could be responsible for spreading cancerous cells throughout the body.

"What we've discovered is that a factor in the breast causes the immune system to help the cancer spread around the patients body" said Professor Chris Ormandy from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

A good guy protein found in the breast turns bad with cancer.

It forces cells from the immune system to form around tumours.

Blood vessels then become leaky and cancer cells escape.

The discovery is a result of ten years of work, a multi-million-dollar project that opens the door for new drugs and tests that can predict how the cancer will progress in individual patients.

That is music to the ears of many breast cancer survivors because the number one cause of death is not the initial tumour, but the spread to other organs.

"When they can target the treatment specifically for the kind of cancer that you have…it means you're not just shooting in the dark and hoping that you'll have a win,” said Sally Obermeder.

While surgery successfully treats around 75 percent of breast cancers, scientists hope this discovery may help cure the rest.

"Up to a third of women who develop breast cancer ultimately die from the metastasis and this is a new way we hope to save those lives," said Dr Ormandy.

The findings will be used to develop treatments for various cancers.