Brain Cancer: Study Finds Gene Involved in Sense of Smell Could Play Role in Spread
One Gene Involved in Sense of Smell Could Play Role in Spread of Breast Cancer to the
The most common cause of breast cancer-related mortality, brain metastases, has a significant unmet treatment need.
* In the brain, bones, and lungs, an olfactory receptor usually linked to the sensation of smell may also cause breast cancer cells to spread.
* Future research may lead to an inhibitor of OR5B21, which might extend the lives of breast cancer patients by preventing cellular invasion and metastasis.
According to experts at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), breast cancer may spread to other parts of the body through an olfactory receptor gene. Research released in iScience shows that suppressing the gene known as "OR5B21" reduced the spread of breast cancer cells to various organs, which might be an essential target for future treatment to limit its spread.
Bakhos Tannous, PhD, director of the Experimental Therapeutics Unit in the Department of Neurology at MGH and senior author of the study, says the common perception is that the only role of olfactory receptors, which line the nasal cavity and relay sensory data to the brain, is to recognize odors and smell. It is also possible that the olfactory receptor 5B21 is an oncogene that plays a role in cancer development by directing breast cancer cells to the brain and other parts of the body.
Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed malignancy after lung cancer and is the primary cause of cancer in women, with more than two million new cases recorded each year. The primary cause of death from breast cancer migration to the brain underscores the urgent need for novel treatment targets to prevent or arrest the disease's metastases.
Breast cancer has previously been understudied in relation to the olfactory receptor family of genes, which have been found to be overexpressed in prostate, melanoma, and lung cancers, according to the study's co-author, Litia Carvalho, PhD, an instructor in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
According to the team's findings in animal models (EMT), OR5B21 promotes or primes breast cancer cells for metastasis via a signaling pathway that initiates a process known as the epithelial to mesenchymal transition via a signaling pathway that activates a process known as the epithelial to mesenchymal transition via a signaling pathway that activates a process known as the epithelial to mesenchymal transition When EMT takes place, the olfactory cells undergo a variety of biochemical and phenotypic changes, including an increase in their ability to migrate to distant organs, notably the brain.
Extrinsic signals are converted into intracellular messages by activating the NF-B/STAT signaling pathway, which, according to lead author Mao Li, an Experimental Therapeutics Unit graduate student researcher, leads to cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. However, further study is required to understand how OR5B21 promotes metastasis in the field.
The team's finding that downregulation of the olfactory receptor OR5B21 results in a substantial drop in cancer cell metastasis might lead to the development of a molecular inhibitor of OR5B21. Tannous believes that targeting OR5B21 as a target for adjuvant treatment might help satisfy a massive unmet medical need by avoiding breast cancer spread to the brain and other organs and therefore prolonging the lives of patients.
