Combination breast cancer therapy targets tumor cells and the blood vessels that feed them

(University of Missouri-Columbia) Between 30 and 40 percent of human breast cancers express a defective (mutant) form of p53, a protein that helps cancer cells proliferate and grow. Researchers at the University of Missouri found that combining a cancer therapy, which activates p53 and is currently under a clinical trial, with a second drug therapy that helps suppress tumor blood vessels found in cancer cells, can significantly reduce breast cancer tumors while causing cancer cell death.