Genes may inform breast cancer treatment
January 27th, 2010
The discovery of two genes that enable cancer cells to resist some chemotherapy drugs may lead to a new test to help doctors decide the best treatment for individual patients.
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston analysed the DNA in samples of tissue taken from breast cancer patients. They identified two genes that, when faulty, enable tumour cells to resist a common class of chemotherapy drug called anthracyclines. However, further research revealed that despite their resistance to these drugs, cells with overactive versions of the genes are still vulnerable to other drugs such as cisplatin and paclitaxel.
Lead researcher Dr Andrea Richardson, whose findings are published in the journal Nature Medicine, commented: ‘These results suggest that tumours resistant to anthracyclines may still be sensitive to other agents.
‘So this would be very useful as a test to help pick the therapy that’s going to be most effective for these patients.’
Meg McArthur, a spokeswoman for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said that the research is ‘important’ for identifying appropriate treatments for individual patients. She noted: ‘These are early, small-scale study results and more research is now needed before the benefits could be seen by patients.’
Posted by Juping Yu | Tagged with breast cancer, genes
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