Diagnostic Marker for Breast Cancer

Researchers have discovered that the tissue-specific elongation factor eEF1A2 may be an oncoprotein that could be used as a new diagnostic marker for breast cancer.

The researchers, from the University of Edinburgh (UK), studied the expression of eEF1A2 in breast tumor cells both at the RNA and at the protein level. The results of both analyses showed that eEF1A2 is moderately to highly expressed in two-thirds of malignant tumor cells but only barely expressed in normal breast cells. The expression in tumor cells was up to 30 times higher than the expression in normal cells. Over-expression was considerably more significant in tumor cells bearing the estrogen receptor (ER) than in ER-negative tumor cells: 18% of ER-negative tumors showed a slight expression of eEF1A2 while 63% of ER-positive tumors showed significant expression of the protein.

Other recent studies had found that eEF1A2 was over-expressed in ovarian cancer cells but the protein had not been shown to be expressed in breast cancer cells. According to the author of the study, more research is needed to identify its exact role in the development of breast tumors. "The oncogenicity of eEF1A2 may be related to its role in protein synthesis or to its potential non-canonical functions in cytoskeletal remodeling of apoptosis,” wrote the authors.

The study was published in the September 12, 2005, online issue of BMC Cancer.




Related Links:
University of Edinburgh