Researchers at Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales, are working on a novel compound that targets a well-studied protein called Bcl3, which has been shown to play a crucial role in breast cancer’s spread throughout the body – a deadly process known as metastasis, Fox News reports.

Dr. Richard Clarkson, from Cardiff University’s European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute started looking for ways to suppress the Bcl3 gene pharmacologically.  He teamed up with researchers Dr. Andrew Westwell and Dr. Andrea Brancale from the Cardiff University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to develop chemicals that inhibit the Bcl3 gene through the use of computer modeling.

To test its efficacy, the drug candidate was then used on mice with metastatic cancer.  The researchers found that the drug effectively halted the development of the mice’s tumors.

While the drug has only shown to be effective in rodent models, Clarkson is optimistic that such a compound could drastically alter the way breast cancer is treated in humans.