Peter Thomas, professor of marine science, and researchers in his lab have made a discovery in fish that could provide a chink in the armor of cancer cells.
Thomas used a small coastal fish, the Atlantic croaker, to discover and study the membrane androgen receptor. He and his team found that activation of the receptor by testosterone in human breast and prostate cancer cells causes the cancer cells to die. This discovery suggests new drugs can be developed that target this receptor to treat breast and prostate cancer.
Thomas was a co-author on two papers in the November edition of the journal Endocrinology (read them here and here).
The Marine Science Institute's Sally Palmer recently interviewed Thomas about how he made the discovery and what it might take to turn the insight into a cancer treatment. Click to read the interview.
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