Researchers now say that Protein 4.1B can not only play an integral role in suppressing prostate cancer, but also in predicting the source of the disease. The scientists tracked their findings by injecting mice with prostate cancer tumors and compared the varied metastatic properties of its cells.
That research prompted them to suppress Protein 4.1B in several poorly metastatic cells and those cells' ability to spread quickly grew. The research, which was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say those findings are likely similar in humans as low levels of that protein have been found in patients with metastatic prostate cancers.
UPI quotes Richard O. Hynes as saying, "If you determine that a tumor shows reduced levels of Protein 4.1B, one would know to worry more about it metastasizing and plan treatment accordingly."
Protein 4.1B is a member of a family of similar proteins, many of which link proteins in the cell membrane to the cell's internal cytoskeleton. Other researchers had shown that Protein 4.1B function is frequently lost in an array of cancers, including brain, lung and breast cancers.
