NORTH-EAST scientists believe they may have found breast cancer's 'Achilles' heel'.

The scientists from Newcastle University say they have found that ‘turning off’ two proteins reduces the ability of breast cancer cells to survive and grow.

The Newcastle University scientists believe this could be a possible ‘Achilles’ heel’ approach that could work in many types of breast cancer, potentially helping to find a way to stop the return of tumours after treatment, increasing survival chances for women with the disease.

Almost 1,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Tyne and Wear each year, and more than 200 women die from the disease each year, primarily because their breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

In addition to surgery and targeted drug treatments, many breast cancers are treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which damages the DNA of the cancer cells, causing them to die.

However, some breast cancer cells are able to recover from this damage, meaning they can continue to grow and can also spread from the breast to other parts of the body. When breast cancer cells break away from the original tumour and spread to other parts of the body (known as metastasis), the disease can sometimes be treated and controlled, but no longer cured.

In research published in Nature Communications, Breast Cancer Campaign-funded Professor David Elliott and fellow researchers Dr Andrew Best and Dr Alison Tyson-Capper, all based at Newcastle University, are the first scientists to find a new ‘pathway’ that breast cancer cells rely on to survive.

The team investigated two proteins that are found in large amounts in breast cancer cells, and discovered that when they removed the proteins, they were able to ‘turn off’ a third protein, also known as ‘checkpoint kinase 1’, which reduced the ability of the cancer cells to divide and grow. The researchers are the first to find this link.

Lead researcher Professor David Elliott said the team now want to look at different types of breast cancer and investigate if turning off the proteins could be an Achilles’ heel for breast cancer cells’ ability to divide and grow.

Katherine Woods, research communications manager at Breast Cancer Campaign, said: “Twelve thousand women in the UK die of breast cancer each year, the vast majority because their cancer has spread. We urgently need to find better treatments that stop all cancer cells in their tracks, and ensure that they don’t find a way to survive beyond treatment.”