NIH scientists identify molecular link ..metabolism - BC

At least they got some fresh understanding.   You never know when basic research could lead to breakthroughs for a minority or even majority of people.   Thanks for sharing cp!

Yeah.  To me, breast cancer research are like detectives in a Clue mystery.   Some are working on "who dunnit", "how dunnit", others are working on "stopping the carnage".    I'd support all these hardworking detectives and love NIH and NIC and DoD and the researchers for their heavy lifting work, including Komen for their  metastatic research funding (however small).

Just not the fancy fluffy pink research that costs billions to only tell us: do this or that more (exercise, radiate yearly from 30 year old on, choose lumpectomy+radiation over mastectomy, eat less, etc), you are x% less likely to die.

1.  no fresh insight

2.  these strategies are not cures, will never be cures

3.  people don't deserve to die even if they don't/can't do any of this or that

LOL.  Can't agree with you more.   It took me a few months of almost fulltime research to dig under the thickets of papers to arrive at the same understanding as you.  

All my acquaintances including a biology PHD relative still have the idea that breast cancer is "curable".   Just incredible how these simple facts are deeply buried by all the optimistic marketing messages.

On the other hand, I'm very hopeful and really appreciate the scientists researchers clinicians' hard work.   Cancer is very smart and it nearly always found a way.   So researchers need all the funding and help they could get.     

Fascinating study.

The day I got dx, I said to DH...gee, all the stuff we were brainwashed into believing when I went to dietetic school, and we, of course, believed...I ate a lot of meals vegetarian and carb heavy.  There is diabetes in my family and even though I had a BMI of 19, I was shocked to have pre-diabetes in my early 40s...not long after, breast cancer.  I am not BRCA positive, but one wonders if it matters.

you mean this one BB?

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have uncovered a human enzyme responsible for causing DNA mutations found in the majority of breast cancers. The discovery of this enzyme – called APOBEC3B – may change the way breast cancer is diagnosed and treated.

This is what happens when you simply try to find a mutation and then develop or pick an appropriately targeted drug. It seems like a nice idea, however, not every key that looks like it will fit a lock will actually turn it. There are numerous common or even uncommon mutations in various tumor types, but they don’t know that all those mutations are going to turn out to be relevant, as many of them are essentially bystanders.

Anyone familiar with cellular biology knows that having the genetic sequence of a known gene (genotype) does not equate to having the disease state (phenotype) represented by that gene. It requires specific cellular triggers and specialized cellular mechanisms to literally translate the code into the work horse of the cellular world – proteins.

Cells are routinely broken up by mechanical and enzymatic (APOBEC3B) means, which alters their subsequent behavior. Some methods like cell-lines have limited analysis only to isolated tumor cells and fail to incorporate the crucial contribution of non-tumorous elements to the cancer phenomenon.

But I guess the publicity helps to get more research funding.