Scientists discover how to switch cancer protector gene on

A new UCL study has revealed that a gene that normally protects against ovarian cancer is switched off in two-thirds of cases and switching it back on arrests tumour growth. The researchers found that the 'protector gene', known as EPB41L3, is inactivated in 65 per cent of ovarian cancers and reactivating the gene halted tumour growth and triggered large numbers of the cancer cells to commit suicide. The research, co-funded by Cancer Research UK and the gynaecological cancer research charity The Eve Appeal, raises the prospect for developing therapies that mimic or restore the function of the gene to kill ovarian cancer cells in a targeted way. UCL's Dr Simon Gayther, who led the study, said: 'Previous studies have found similar 'protector genes' but ours is the first to uncover EPB41L3 as a gene specific to ovarian cancer. ?We also discovered that the gene is completely lost in about two-thirds of the ovarian tumours we looked at. 'When we switched it back on in these tumours, it had a positive effect in killing cancer cells. This is a very exciting result because it means therapies that mimic or reactivate this gene could be a way to kill many ovarian cancers.' The scientists, based at UCL's institute of Women's Health, used a cutting-edge approach which involves transferring whole chromosomes into ovarian cancer cells.