This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA

Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 1999;282:1415.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 147 words of the full text and any section headings.

A research team led by scientists at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research reports in the September 1 issue of Cancer Research that a protein in bone appears to act as an attractant for prostate cancer cells.

The researchers found that osteonectin, a protein thought to be involved in bone mineralization, not only attracts prostate cancer cells but also stimulates them to become invasive. They also discovered that the attractive ability of a bone extract could be eliminated by treating it with an antibody that specifically binds to osteonectin.

Osteonectin induced similar activity in cells affected by breast cancer, another bone-prone malignancy, but was inactive against cancers that don't spread to bone. The new findings suggest the possibility that compounds that target osteonectin may be able to discourage bone metastasis in cancers with a propensity to spread to bone, the researchers said.