Washington, Feb 14 (ANI): Researchers at Universite Laval and Institut national de Sante Publique in Quebec, Canada have discovered the mechanism through which the main metabolite of the insecticide DDT leads to aggressive breast cancer tumours.

The research led by Pierre Ayotte have found a mechanism whereby p,p!’-DDE, a component of DDT metabolite opposes the androgen signalling pathway that inhibits growth in breast cancer cells.

The team analysed the effect of p,p!’-DDE on the proliferation of CAMA-1 cells, a human breast cancer cell line.

They found that increasing concentrations of p,p!’-DDE along with estrogens and androgens increased the growth of CAMA-1.

Our results suggest that in addition to estrogenic compounds, which have been the main focus of researchers over the past decades, chemicals that block the AR cells could favour breast cancer progression, said Ayotte.

The report is published in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research. (ANI)