Galway Bay fm newsroom - Researchers at NUI Galway have identified a key cause for the aggressive spread of a deadly form of breast cancer.
Almost 30 percent of women in the western world are diagnosed with triple breast cancer, for which treatment is currently limited to chemotherapy and surgery.
The research into the progression of triple breast cancer was conducted by the Discipline of Pathology at NUI Galway's Lambe Institute for Translational Research.
The team led by Dr. Sharon Glynn has identified a key protein which leads to faster progression of the deadly disease.
This is inducible nitric oxide snythase or iNOS - and women with increased quantities of this protein are at greater risk of their breast cancer spreading to other parts of the body.
The study found that iNOS is a factor in the poor survival rate of Irish breast cancer patients as it makes cells more resistant to treatment such chemotherapy.
The research also discovered that the interaction of iNOS with another protein known as COX2 can lead to faster tumour growth and the spread of cancer throughout the body.
It's hoped the discovery will assist in the development of new screening methods and therapies to improve survival rates.
