UCD Scientist Finds Potential Breast Cancer Breakthrough

1st November 2016

Posted In: WMB Living | FYI

Breast-Predict, The Irish Cancer Society Collaborative Cancer Research Centre, hopes that the drug APR-246 can prevent the growth of triple-negative breast cancer cells.

The drug is currently used to treat ovarian cancer and if successful at clinical trials, the drug could treat a particular form of breast cancer which has previously proved resistant to non-toxic treatment methods.

The researcher on this project is UCD PhD student Naoise Synott under the supervision of Professor Joe Duffy and Professor John Crown. She told RTE: “At the moment the only form of drug treatment available to patients with triple negative breast cancer is chemotherapy. While this will work well for some patients, others may find that their cancer cells don’t respond as well as might be hoped to chemo, leading patients suffering the side effects of this treatment without any of the desired outcomes.”

Breast-Predict brings together researchers from six academic institutions across Ireland: UCD, TCD, RCSI, DCU, NUIG and UCC, and a nationwide clinical trials group, Cancer Trials Ireland (formerly ICORG).

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