Identifying early changes in tissue
A second theme in the lab is identifying early changes that occur in normal and premalignant tissues and predict the emergence of a tumour. If these changes can be detected and prevented, then it may be possible to reduce the increasing incidence of breast cancer, particularly in the developed Western countries where the lifetime risk of breast cancer now exceeds one in ten women.
The results of these investigations should lead to an increased understanding of the biology of the normal human breast which, in turn, could lead to the development of new strategies or new targets for breast cancer prevention and therapy.
Figure 2Confocal microscope image of a propidium iodide (red) stained acinus showing the nuclei of immortalised MCF10A breast epithalial cells grown in extracellular matrix (matrigel) in 3-dimensional (3-D) culture.
A single cell divides over 12 days to produce a hollow acinus lined by a polarised epithelium.