Thousands of women whose breast cancer has become resistant to standard treatment could benefit from a new drug combination, claim researchers. It is hoped the new approach will target cancer stem cells that evade conventional drugs and cause the tumour to re-grow. Cancer that has spread and is incurable, known as secondary breast cancer, kills 1,000 women in Britain every month. Researchers from Manchester University working with drug development company Evgen Pharma, have developed a new combination of drugs which could overcome this problem. Thousands of women whose breast cancer has become resistant to standard treatment could benefit from a new drug combination. It targets cancer cells that evade conventional drugs and cause tumours to re-grow . They are testing the drug Sulforadex in the most common type of breast cancer, affecting 70 per cent of patients. These ‘oestrogen receptor’ (ER) cancers are currently tackled using hormonal treatments such as tamoxifen  to reduce oestrogen levels or block ER function. However, many women go on to develop resistance and the disease comes back, often because cancer stem cells which cause tumours to regrow and spread are unaffected by these treatments. The combination therapy, tested in mice and samples of tissue from secondary breast cancer patients, combines Sulforadex with standard hormonal treatments. Eating dinner or a snack late at night could raise a woman's risk of breast cancer, a study has warned. Researchers found eating meals at set times and eating dinner early reduced the risk. Leaving a longer time between the last meal or snack of the day and breakfast lowers the chance of developing the disease, US researchers found. They discovered women who fasted for longer overnight had significantly better control over their blood sugar levels. Each three hour increase in night-time fasting was associated with a four per cent lower glucose levels when tested after a meal, regardless of how much women ate, they found. Previous research has found women with higher blood sugar levels are more likely to develop cancer, even if they don't have diabetes. In the study, women reported eating five times per day and fasted overnight an average of 12 hours. Those who reported fasting for longer also indicated they consumed fewer calories per day, ate fewer calories after 10 pm and had fewer periods of eating. This targets both the oestrogen-sensitive cells and the remaining cancer stem cells at the same time, says research presented at the American Association of Cancer Research annual conference today. Dr Robert Clarke, from the University’s Institute of Cancer Sciences, said: ‘The hormonal therapies we use today are very good at treating breast cancer tumours driven by oestrogen. ‘However, they don’t completely solve the problem. 'This combination of drugs potentially allows us to target oestrogen-sensitive cells, while also mopping up the cells which cause treatment resistance.’ The next step will be to recruit patients for a trial in the next few months. Dr David Howat, head of research and development at Evgen Pharma said: ‘We are really excited about the data presented at the AACR. 'Dr Rob Clarke and his research team have demonstrated the efficacy of Sulforadex. ‘We now intend to extend this collaboration and advance Sulforadex into a clinical trial with breast cancer patients.’ Katie Goates, at Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Campaign, said: ‘While it’s important to remember that at this stage research has only been carried out in mice, this new combination of drugs shows exciting potential to overcome resistance to hormone treatments, such as tamoxifen. ‘Combining tamoxifen with Sulforadex resulted in fewer breast cancer stem cells surviving treatment compared to tamoxifen alone, lowering the likelihood of breast cancer returning or spreading to other parts of the body. ‘Oestrogen receptor’ cancers are currently tackled using hormonal treatments such as tamoxifen to reduce oestrogen levels or block ER function. The new therapy targets both the oestrogen-sensitive cells and the remaining cancer stem cells (pictured) at the same time . ‘Interestingly, Dr Clarke’s team has also shown that this combination of drugs reduces the number of cancer stem cells in secondary breast cancer samples. ‘This means that the combination also has the potential to extend how long tamoxifen treatment can work for women with secondary breast cancer (cancer that has spread), the incurable form of the disease. ‘Secondary breast cancer still kills 1,000 women in the UK every month so research that helps us to discover improved treatment options for women living with this form of breast cancer, or to help prevent cancer spreading, are vitally important. ‘We hope that planned clinical trials will follow quickly to tell us whether using tamoxifen with Sulforadex is safe and can deliver similar results in humans.’
New approach targets cancer stem cells that evade conventional treatment . The cells cause tumours to re-grow, causing secondary breast cancer . Treatment combines Sulforadex with standard hormonal treatments .