A new Weill Cornell Medicine study suggests a promising approach to stop the spread of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), one of the most aggressive cancer forms.
Researchers found that the enzyme EZH2 drives TNBC cells to divide abnormally, leading to chromosomal instability and enabling them to metastasize (spread to distant organs).
The study, published in Cancer Discovery, found that drugs that block EZH2 (EZH2 inhibitors) could restore order to cell division and significantly thwart the spread of TNBC cells in preclinical models. EZH2 causes abnormal division by silencing the tankyrase 1 gene, which is essential for proper chromosome separation.
The findings suggest a new therapeutic approach—using EZH2 inhibitors like the FDA-approved drug tazemetostat—to block metastasis and potentially improve survival for TNBC patients. This discovery opens the door for clinical trials to test EZH2 inhibitors in high-risk TNBC and potentially other cancers.