Certain genes might play a role in spreading cancer disease throughout a woman's body, a new study showed.

Building upon earlier research, scientists from the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), found in both mice and human breast tumor samples that a certain gene signature predicted the chance of metastasis, according to the study published in the January issue of Cancer Research.

In the study, a gene signature was first discovered in mice that raised the risk of breast cancer metastasis in mice by 20-fold. Then researchers found the corresponding human gene signature which predicted relapse or recurrence in four of five breast cancer patients.

Many experts have believed that metastasis is primarily the result of non-inherited mutations in cancerous tissue.

The findings could help doctors fine-tune breast cancer treatments even further, said the study.

"Our earlier studies clearly established that inherited factors also play an important role in metastatic progression and can help distinguish which tumors have a propensity to metastasize," said study author Kent W. Hunter, head of the NCI's Metastasis Susceptibility Section in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics.

"Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to determine which women are more likely to have a tumor that would metastasize, and we could then tailor therapy specifically for them, avoiding the use of harsh treatments for those with a low probability of metastasis," he said.

"Our study provides additional evidence of the role of inherited genes in human breast cancer progression," Hunter said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2009)