Cancer

Cell culture and mouse studies suggest inhibiting UGT8 could help treat basal-like breast cancer. In four human basal-like breast cancer cell lines, shRNA targeting UGT8 decreased cancer cell colony formation compared with no treatment. In two of the cell lines, Zometa zoledronic acid, which inhibits UGT8, decreased cancer cell migration and invasiveness. In two patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models of basal-like breast cancer, shRNA targeting UGT8 decreased tumor weight and tumor growth. In a PDX mouse model of metastatic basal-like breast cancer, shRNA targeting UGT8 or Zometa decreased lung metastasis compared with no treatment or vehicle. Next steps could include identifying and testing specific UGT8 inhibitors in models of basal-like breast cancer...