A New Therapeutic Approach for One of the Most Aggressive Breast Cancers

A statement recently issued by Australia’s University of Adelaide indicated that the study identified a molecular key that drives the spread of triple-negative breast cancer, a subtype associated with some of the worst treatment outcomes due to its lack of hormone receptors targeted by many current breast cancer therapies.

In preclinical models, the team showed that restoring miR-342 levels significantly reduced the spread of breast cancer to other organs, including the lungs and bones.

The researchers also found that palbociclib, a drug currently used to treat advanced hormone receptor-positive breast cancer and a CDK4/6 inhibitor, substantially reduced the growth of metastatic tumors in models with low miR-342 levels.

The findings, published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, suggest that measuring miR-342 levels could help identify triple-negative breast cancer patients who may benefit from CDK4/6 inhibitors, potentially enabling the repurposing of an existing treatment for one of the most lethal forms of breast cancer.