Scientists find targeting tumour ‘scaffolding’ slows breast cancer

The researchers believe that blocking the proline in the cancer-associated fibroblasts could be key to treating breast cancer in the future.

Proline is used to make collagen, which is required to form skin, hair and nails, but in cancer it can be used to build the “scaffolding” around which tumours can grow. File Picture

Researchers have found that breast cancer tumours could be prevented from growing by targeting the “scaffolding” that surrounds them.

Scientists in Glasgow from the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute showed that tumours create a large amount of the amino acid proline and found that when they stopped its production, cancer cells were less likely to grow and spread.