New point of attack for breast cancer with poor prognosis

New point of attack for breast cancer with poor prognosis. Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research describe how the protein phosphatase SHP2 promotes breast cancer with poor prognosis. As they report Medicine, SHP2 is necessary for the maintenance of the few tumor initiating cells (TICs) in a breast tumor. These cells are thought to sustain the growth of the tumor, promote metastasis and lead to relapses. A few cells can wreak deadly havoc. This population of cells can not only initiate cancer, it may, in some tumor types, also be the one to promote growth, resist therapy, or cause relapse. In recent years, these so-called tumor initiating cells (TICs) have thus moved into the focus of attention because of their promise for therapeutic intervention: TICs seem to be the reason why patients with some cancers do not react to therapy or relapse quickly after remission, and TICs seem to be more abundant in aggressive and refractory cancers.