Researchers at UNC School of Medicine say by controlling the expression of a protein called palladin, they were able to reduce the spread of breast cancer cells.

Carol Otey, Ph.D. and UNC colleagues found higher levels of the protein in four invasive breast cancer cell lines compared to four non-invasive cell lines.

"This study shows that palladin may play an important role in the metastasis of breast cancer cells as they move out of the tumor and into the blood vessels and lymphatics to spread throughout the body," said Otey, associate professor of cell and molecular physiology, in a written statement.

Otey has been investigating palladin's role in cell movement since she discovered and named it in 2000.

Next she will examine a variety of samples of human tumors from a UNC tumor bank, to find out if the tumors from patients who had worse outcomes and more aggressive cancers contain higher levels of palladin.

"Now that we see palladin is expressed mostly in invasive cells, it raises the question as to whether it might be useful as a prognostic marker," Otey said. "Maybe someday doctors could test for the presence of palladin to identify patients who have the most aggressive tumors, then give those patients personalized, more aggressive treatment."