Genetic Analysis Indicates Why Breast Cancer Stem Cells Survive Chemotherapy

In Maryland, scientists have long known that breast cancer stem cells can survive chemotherapy, which is not good as those cells are usually in tumor centers and the ones you really want to get rid of because if they come back, the cancer is often fatal. Scientists found that proteins known as hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are activated when exposed to chemotherapy and they then produce a protein called glutathione-S-transferase O1 (GSTO1) which turns on certain genes that help those nasty breast cancer stem cells survive. The gene expression analysis and experiments conducted in their lab showed that if they can block the HIFs, then the GSTO1 protein is never formed and the breast cancer stem cells couldn’t protect themselves against the chemotherapy, giving much hope for breast cancer patients.