Finding the ultimate therapy for breast cancer remains a challenging task for all scientists worldwide. The amazing discovery under the authorship of Professor Chenfang Dong from the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China revealed that the widely used osteoporosis drug named zoledronic acid, inhibits UGT8 activity directly, which led to the prevention of basal-like breast cancer.

Basal-like breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer that affects younger, premenopausal women. It is very hard to treat due to a lack of therapeutic targets like estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and HER2 proteins. Higher UGT8 levels followed by the production of a large amount of sulfatide is always correlated with increased tumor size and a shorter lifespan.

Professor Chenfang Dong said, "The highly aggressive nature and the absence of effective therapeutics for basal-like breast cancer make it a high priority to elucidate what determines its aggressiveness and identify potential therapeutic targets."

By conducting the research work in mice, Dong further added, "Our study suggests that UGT8 contributes to the aggressiveness of basal-like breast cancer and that pharmacological inhibition of UGT8 by zoledronic acid offers a promising opportunity for the clinical treatment of this challenging disease."