Circulating breast cancer cells. Photo: National Cancer Institute

Researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Israel have identified an amino acid peptide that may be able to block the spread of breast cancer in mice, the university announced Tuesday.

Some ninety percent of breast cancer deaths are estimated to be caused by complications stemming from metastasis, the researchers pointed out, during which cancerous cells break off from the initial area where they developed and spread elsewhere in the body, leading to new malignant growths.

There is currently no effective way to stop this process, underscoring the need to target the metastatic potential of a primary tumor.

In a recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Oncogene, the researchers expanded on earlier findings to show that an interaction between two proteins “is a prerequisite for metastasis formation of cancer cells,” the university explained in a statement.

In addition to the decrease in lung metastasis, the peptide also “greatly reduced the invasiveness of breast tumor cells”

The researchers are now seeking to convert the peptide into a drug candidate, with the hope that the advancement will lead to the inhibition of metastasis and help increase survival and quality of life in patients with breast and other metastatic cancers.