Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Diabetes Drug May Be Effective Against Cancer Deadly Form of Breast Cancer

By Rockefeller University Press | March 15, 2017

Compared to a control (left), epalrestat treatment (right) reduces the number of metastatic tumors (arrowheads) in the lungs of mice injected with human basal-like breast cancer cells. Source: Wu et al., 2017

Researchers in China have discovered that a metabolic enzyme called AKR1B1 drives an aggressive type of breast cancer. The study, “AKR1B1 promotes basal-like breast cancer progression by a positive feedback loop that activates the EMT program,” which has been published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that an inhibitor of this enzyme currently used to treat diabetes patients could be an effective therapy for this frequently deadly form of cancer.

Around 15-20% of breast cancers are classified as “basal-like.” This form of the disease, which generally falls into the triple-negative breast cancer subtype, is particularly aggressive, with early recurrence after treatment and a tendency to quickly spread, or metastasize, to the brain and lungs. There are currently no effective targeted therapies to this form of breast cancer, which is therefore often fatal.

Crucial to basal-like breast cancer’s aggressiveness is a process called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), in which the cancer cells become more motile and acquire stem cell-like properties that allow them to resist treatment and initiate tumor growth in other tissues.

Chenfang Dong and colleagues at the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China, found that the levels of a metabolic enzyme called AKR1B1 were significantly elevated in basal-like and triple-negative breast cancers and that this was associated with increased rates of metastasis and shorter survival times.

The researchers discovered that AKR1B1 expression was induced by Twist2, a cellular transcription factor known to play a central role in EMT. AKR1B1, in turn, elevated Twist2 levels by producing a lipid called prostaglandin F2 that activates the NF-B signaling pathway. This “feedback loop” was crucial for basal-like cancer cells to undergo EMT; reducing AKR1B1 levels impaired the cells’ ability to migrate and give rise to cancer stem cells.

Knocking down AKR1B1 also inhibited the growth and metastasis of tumors formed by human basal-like breast cancer cells injected into mice. “Our data clearly suggests that AKR1B1 overexpression represents an oncogenic event that is responsible for the aggressive behaviors of basal-like breast cancer cells,” Dong explains.

Moreover, epalrestat, a drug that inhibits AKR1B1 and is approved in Japan to treat peripheral neuropathies associated with diabetes, was similarly able to block the growth and metastasis of human basal-like breast cancer cells. “Since epalrestat is already on the market and has no major adverse side effects, our study provides a proof of principle that it could become a valuable targeted drug for the clinical treatment of basal-like breast cancer,” Dong says.

Related Articles Read More >

Eli Lilly facility
9 R&D developments this week: Lilly builds major R&D center, Stratolaunch tests hypersonic craft, IBM chief urges AI R&D funding
professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE