RESEARCH being carried out by scientists in Southampton could help develop drugs to tackle breast cancer.

Biochemist Graham Packham and colleague Adam Sharp are working on a three-year project, funded by the Breast Cancer Campaign (BCC), looking at how the killer disease develops.

The pair from the University of Southampton's Medical School are investigating why a protein called BAG-1 encourages breast cancer cells to grow and prevents them from dying.

Research has already shown the BAG-1 protein is often present in large quantities in breast cancer.

Now Dr Packham and PhD

student Adam are examining how the protein binds to others and so spreads.

By developing small molecules to interfere with the interaction, the pair hope to promote the death of the cancerous cells.

The BCC hopes their findings will help develop potential new breast cancer drugs.

A spokesman said: "These experiments will provide valuable information about the mechanism of cancer development and may be exploited to develop new approaches to treatment."

The £85,000 research project is based at the Somers Cancer Research Building at Southampton General Hospital.

Breast cancer remains the most common malignancy affecting women in the UK, with one in nine developing the disease at some point in their life.

The incidence of breast cancer is increasing and although there are improvements in the survival rate, there is a clear need to develop new treatment strategies.

To do this, scientists need to develop a detailed understanding of the molecular events that contribute to cancer development.