Source: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ Author: B.S. Akshaya An overactive protein in mouth cancer encourages tumours to grow fast and scientists claim that the protein will help them to find an effective treatment for the disease. Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered FRMD4A, a protein that is overactive among mouth cancer patients. They claim that just deactivating the protein will help save many lives. A study conducted on mice revealed that when FRMD4A protein is turned on, it helps the cancer cells to group and stick together, but when the protein is deactivated the stickiness of the cell is lost and ultimately it causes cancer cells to die. Scientists have already found some potential drugs that could help them deactivate the protein. “What’s really exciting about this research is that we already have potential drugs that can be used to target this protein or compensate for the effects that it is having,” said Dr Stephen Goldie, researcher at Cancer Research UK, in a statement. “These drugs could offer new options to patients where surgery and chemotherapy have not worked or could be used alongside them. We now need to start trials with these treatments, but we hope this could make a real difference to people with mouth cancer in the future,” he added. Mouth cancer starts anywhere in the oral cavity area like in the cheek lining area, the floor of the mouth, gums or the roof of the mouth (palate). Symptoms of this cancer are chewing problems, mouth sores, speech difficulty, swallowing [...]