A leading Manchester scientist has been awarded a grant worth over £185,000 by Breast Cancer Now to investigate how breast cancer cells are able to hibernate for years before returning elsewhere in the body.

Dr Robert Clarke, based at the Breast Cancer Now Research Unit at the University of Manchester, has previously found that a protein called NOTCH is vital in helping breast cancer stem cells survive treatments. 

Dr Clarke and his team believe that NOTCH could be critical in the hibernation and reawakening of breast cancer stem cells in locations like the bone, as well as other places.

Next, Dr Clarke will implant the breast cancer cells into mice to further examine the role of NOTCH.  he will investigate how blocking this protein affects the spread of breast cancer cells to the bone. Finally, the team will study individual sleeping or re-awakened cancer stem cells, to understand which genes are activated in these cells, how NOTCH affects the cells’ activity, and how they are able to hibernate.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women both in the developed and less developed world. It is the fifth most common cause of death from cancer in women. Although breast cancer is thought to be a disease of the developed world, almost 50% of breast cancer cases and 58% of deaths occur in less developed countries (GLOBOCAN 2008).