A local team of researchers says it has discovered that a certain protein in the human body can repress the growth of cancerous cells.

The team led by Professor Kim Sung-hoon at the College of Pharmacy at Seoul National University said Friday that it found out that a gene called "p-18" in the human body has the ability to repress cancer. The p-18 gene is involved in making proteins within cells.

The researchers said that they had made their discovery after lab tests on mice. Test subjects with damaged p-18 genes were found to have developed all kinds of cancer, including in their liver and lungs.

Professor Kim's research results were published in the U.S.-based monthly, Cell Magazine.