Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in Sweden. Between 15 and 20 women get thisd cancer every day. Hormonal factors - the influence of the female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone - are believed to play an important role in the emergence of the disease. Inheritance factorsplay an important role: women whose mother or sister had breast cancer run three-fold risk of being affected.

The most common form of breast cancer arises in the ducts of themilk-producing glands of the breast, and can gradually spread to other parts of the body. A less common type is sarcoma, which arises in the connective tissue of the breast.
Scientists at LiU are involved in studies such as  blood vessel formation, angiogenesis, and enzyme activity, which are very important factors in the development of cancer and which are affected by female sex hormones. One of the aims of these studies is to survey the effects of sex hormones in malignant and normal breast tissue. Another focus concerns the effect of different forms of adjuvant treatment after operations of breast cancer, starting from the biological features of the primary tumour.

Areas of Research

• Effects of sex hormones on angiogenesis and protease activity in malignant and normal breast tissue
• How are growth regulation in the tumourand it’s own production of oestrogen linked to the course of the disease? (Link to Olle Stål’s site)
• Steroid synthesis in hormone-dependent breast and prostate cancer (Link to Agneta Jansson’s site)