Scientists from the University of South Alabama and the University of Wales College of Medicine have found that a gene involved in making cells stick together is less active in aggressive breast tumours than in those that develop more slowly. The gene, called ALCAM (activated leucocyte cell adhesion molecule) is linked with cell migration. The more free the cells are to move, the quicker the potential spread of the cancer.

Reporting in Breast Cancer Research, Dr Judy King and colleagues compared the expression of the ALCAM gene in normal breast tissue and in tissue samples from primary breast tumours.

“Tumours from patients who died of breast cancer had significantly lower levels of ALCAM transcripts than those with primary tumours but no metastatic disease or local recurrence,” they said.They suggest that a test could be developed to measure the level of gene expression in tissue from a primary breast tumour, and identify dangerous tumours at an early stage.

Doctors might then treat them more aggressively, by prescribing chemotherapy much earlier.

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