U-of-I researchers work on stopping breast cancer cells

University of Iowa researchers say they’re making headway in treating one of the nation’s biggest killer diseases. New findings may help slow or stop the growth of breast cancer cells. Professor Peter Bitterman says regulating the protein production by each cancer cell could be the answer.Breast cancer is expected to be diagnosed in 24-hundred Iowa women this year. In 2002, more than 500 Iowa women died from breast cancer. Cancer cells typically produce more protein than healthy ones. Bitterman says if they can regulate how much protein a cancer cell develops, it may ultimately halt the growth of cancer cells. He says it’s a big step because it’s the culmination of a decade of work by cancer investigators around the world. The findings are published in the latest edition of the journal “Cancer Cell.” An American woman has a one-in-eight chance of developing invasive breast cancer during her lifetime. The risk was one-in-11 in 1975.