Some breast cancer tumors may be resistant to a common chemotherapy treatment
Some breast cancer tumours may be resistant to a common chemotherapy treatment, suggests recent medical research at the University of Alberta.
Principal investigator Ing Swie Goping and her team discovered some breast cancer tumours had low levels of certain genes, and that those tumours didn't respond well to taxane chemotherapy, a common treatment used in breast cancer.
"These tumours didn't shrink and were resistant to a common chemotherapy treatment. These results give us a strong incentive to continue our research," she said.
Goping and her team looked at tumour samples from 24 patients who had breast cancer. These patients were treated with chemotherapy before surgery. The team discovered four genes in the 'survival' system of tumour cells weren't functioning well in some of the samples. When parts of this system don't work the way they are supposed to, the tumour survival system gets weaker.
Researchers expected that because this survival system was weaker in some tumours, that chemotherapy treatment would be more effective at shrinking these tumours. But the opposite happened.
Instead, they found that the stronger the tumours' survival system was, the better the chemotherapy worked.
"This discovery was a bit of a surprise," said Goping, a researcher in both the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Oncology.
"One would expect that tumour cells with strong survival systems would be more chemotherapy-resistant, but that's not what we discovered."
Goping noted this research was purely curiosity-driven, and the finding underscores the importance of basic research.
"It was a question we were asking at a very basic level and it turns out the discovery could be clinically relevant. At the moment there is no tool to determine which women would be good candidates for taxane chemotherapy. And chemotherapy resistance is a major clinical problem."
Goping hopes to continue this research by examining tumour samples from thousands of patients over a span of at least three years, in hopes of confirming what the team discovered is indeed a 'marker' that will predict which breast cancer patients will respond well to taxane chemotherapy.
She noted it would be years before doctors would be able to actually start testing breast cancer patients for this marker.
More information: The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Oncogene.
Journal reference:
Oncogene
Provided by
University of Alberta
-
Genes associated with aggressive breast cancer
Aug 16, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Scientists identify natural defence cells that impede chemotherapy treatment
Apr 27, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Discovery that PARP protein exists in all breast tumors will help target chemo and predict response
Mar 26, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Discovery may help fight late-stage ovarian cancer
Nov 16, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Another step toward resisting breast cancer
Sep 21, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Why is zone 1 in liver more prone to ischemic injury?
May 23, 2013
-
How can there be villous adenoma in colon, if there are no villi there
May 22, 2013
-
How can there be a term called "intestinal metaplasia" of stomach
May 21, 2013
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
New fluorescent tools for cancer diagnosis
In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) and other non-coding RNAs are small molecules that help control the expression of specific proteins. In recent years they have emerged as disease biomarkers. miRNA profiles have been used ...
Cancer
18 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Modulating the immune system to combat metastatic cancer
Cancer cells spread and grow by avoiding detection and destruction by the immune system. Stimulation of the immune system can help to eliminate cancer cells; however, there are many factors that cause the immune system to ...
Cancer
18 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Scientists put bowel cancer under the microscope
Researchers from London's Kingston University have begun a two-year study which could help prolong the lives of people with colorectal tumours.
Cancer
22 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Researcher identifies breast cancer fighting hormone
Transformative research from Western University has identified new hormones in the body which may suppress breast cancer and stimulate the regression of breast tumors.
Cancer
23 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Ground breaking cancer research finds immune system link
(Medical Xpress)—Curtin University researchers have found evidence that targeting specific cells in the body can reverse the effects of cancer on the immune system.
Cancer
23 hours ago |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
Heart failure accelerates male 'menopause'
Heart failure accelerates the aging process and brings on early andropausal syndrome (AS), according to research presented today at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. AS, also referred to as male 'menopause', was four times ...
First drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade
Coenzyme Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half, according to the results of a multicentre randomised double blind trial presented today at Heart Failure 2013 congress. It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality ...
Feds fight morning-after pill age ruling in NY
(AP)—Department of Justice lawyers have again asked a federal appeals court in New York to delay lifting age restrictions and prescription requirements on an emergency contraceptive popularly known as the morning-after ...
Death highest in heart failure patients admitted in January, on Friday, and overnight
Mortality and length of stay are highest in heart failure patients admitted in January, on Friday, and overnight, according to research presented today at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. The analysis of nearly 1 million ...
Engineered cytomegalovirus protects monkeys from HIV equivalent
(Medical Xpress)—A new study by researchers in the US has shown that an ancient virus can be modified to help in the fight against the simian immunodeficiency virus SIV, which is the equivalent in monkeys ...
Researchers identify first drug targets in childhood genetic tumor disorder
Two mutations central to the development of infantile myofibromatosis (IM)—a disorder characterized by multiple tumors involving the skin, bone, and soft tissue—may provide new therapeutic targets, according to researchers ...