The charity has awarded £314,945 to Dr. Seyed Mehdi Jafarnejad at the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen’s University, to explore how a specific genetic variation affects a protein called ZFP36L1 and how this, in turn, influences breast cancer risk.

Breast cancer risk is shaped by a variety of factors, including genetics, lifestyle, and environmental influences.

Previous research by Dr. Jafarnejad, alongside Professor Nick Orr, Dr. Sarah Maguire, and Professor Montse Garcia-Closas, revealed that this genetic change lowers levels of the ZFP36L1 protein in healthy breast cells. They also found that breast cancer cells typically have reduced levels of this protein, suggesting that its absence may help trigger the transformation of healthy cells into cancerous ones. Additionally, patients with lower levels of ZFP36L1 in their breast tumors often face worse outcomes.

However, the precise role of ZFP36L1 in breast cancer remains unclear, and the team aims to better understand its function.

With support from Breast Cancer Now, Dr. Jafarnejad and his colleagues will investigate how reduced ZFP36L1 levels increase breast cancer risk, particularly why the effect appears stronger in men, despite their overall lower incidence of the disease.

The team will study how ZFP36L1 regulates cellular processes in healthy breast tissue and how disruptions in its function may lead to cancer. They will analyze breast tumor samples from both the Breast Cancer Now Male Breast Cancer Study and the Breast Cancer Now Generations Study to identify which genes are controlled by ZFP36L1 in both healthy and cancerous breast cells in men and women. They also aim to understand how the loss of this protein affects cell growth and cancer development.

Ultimately, the research seeks to uncover why ZFP36L1 affects breast cancer risk differently in men and women. Gaining insights into these sex-based differences could lead to more effective prevention strategies and treatments.

Dr. Simon Vincent, Chief Scientific Officer at Breast Cancer Now, explained: “Breast cancer is far more common in women than men, with 55,000 women and 400 men diagnosed annually in the UK. While this is largely due to hormonal differences and the higher number of breast cells in women, we know there are other important distinctions between how the disease develops in both sexes. This research will deepen our understanding of those differences and could pave the way for improved, targeted approaches to prevention and treatment.”

Source : https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/featured-research/new-queens-study-investigate-dna-change-linked-breast-cancer.html