An innovative three-dimension (3D) lung model could hold the key to how breast cancer spreads within the human body, thanks to a study funded by Health and Care Research Wales.

Dr Naledi Formosa, a Research Fellow of Cancer and Genetics Cancer at Cardiff University, is creating the 3D lung model to study the spread of breast cancer, also known as metastasis, and the factors that influence its spread.

According to Cancer Research UK, breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK with about 550,000 new cases each year.

Dr Formosa said that while some cancer patients are diagnosed at a later stage, drugs may be used to treat it if it is diagnosed early. Much of the existing research focuses on curing the primary problem before cancers spread, but Dr Formosa said she wanted to find out what causes breast cancer to spread and to explore if there are any new therapies available to stop the spread.

She said: “A lot of breast cancer patients, especially those at stage three or four, will have to stop their treatments when the cancer is too severe or has gone to a further stage. People with advanced breast cancer may only have a few effective treatment options.

“We’re trying to recreate a full functioning lung model and explore the process of breast cancer spread.”

Dr Formosa’s model will use living human cells and provides a more accurate representation of a human body to monitor the complex interactions of lung cells.

“The lung model will imitate what occurs in the body when breast cancer spreads into healthy lung tissues, so that I can examine how breast cancer travels to other body parts and the factors leading to the spread.

If we can model breast cancer spread into the lung environment, hopefully we can identify if there’s new therapy or drug to prevent breast cancer from spreading, or even reverse it,” she added.

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