A protein that helps breast cancer spread to the brain
Original title: Cancer-intrinsic SIRPα Signaling Triggers Mitochondrial Fission and Immune Tolerance to Promote TNBC Breast-to-Brain Metastasis.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was done in animals, not people. Most findings at this stage never become treatments.
The treatment part was only tested in mice.
The short version
In mice, blocking one protein lowered breast cancer spread to the brain.
What was studied. Researchers studied a protein called SIRP-alpha in triple negative breast cancer. They looked at human cancer cells and tissue samples. They also put these cancer cells into mice and watched what happened.
What they found. SIRP-alpha levels were higher in the cancer cells themselves. Levels were also higher in spots where breast cancer had spread to the brain. In mice, more SIRP-alpha meant more spread through the body. The protein also calmed the brain's own immune cells, so they did not fight the cancer. Blocking SIRP-alpha lowered the number of brain tumors in the mice.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This gives scientists a new target to study. If it holds up, it may lead to a way to slow breast cancer from reaching the brain. For now it mostly helps explain how the spread happens.
What it doesn't mean: This is early lab and animal work. No person was treated with a drug that blocks this protein. There is no such treatment you can ask your doctor for today. It is not a promise of a cure. Many years of testing in people would need to come first, and most early findings like this do not pan out.
Source: PubMed, August 31, 2026 · Read the original
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