home   genetic news   bioinformatics   biotechnology   literature   journals   ethics   positions   events   sitemap
 
  HUM-MOLGEN -> Genetic News | search  
 

Double Anti-Cancer Whammy

 
  March, 30 2004 9:10
your information resource in human molecular genetics
 
     
The drug rapamycin may prove to be a useful adjunct to chemotherapy, research in the 18 March 2004 issue of Nature (Vol. 428, No. 6980, pp. 332-337) suggests. The combined approach prevents some tumours from building up resistance to standard anti-cancer medicines.

Mice with a type of B-cell lymphoma - a cancer of antibody-producing B cells that is caused by the genes Myc and Akt - are resistant to standard chemotherapy, report Scott W. Lowe and colleagues. But when the animals are given rapamycin in combination with chemotherapy, their tumours become sensitive to the anti-cancer drugs.

Rapamycin targets one of the signalling pathways regulated by Akt, a protein that has been implicated in cell survival. But not all tumours express Akt or activate this pathway, so the combination therapy may only work in those that do, the authors caution.

The results point to a possible strategy for reversing drug resistance in human cancers, and underline the importance of tailoring cancer therapy to a tumour's genetic make-up. "The clinical importance of these results is obvious," says Frank McCormick in an accompanying News and Views article. "Indeed, clinical trials of rapamycin and its analogues in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents are already underway."

CONTACT:

Scott W. Lowe
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
USA
Tel: +1 516 367 8406
E-mail: LOWE@CSHL.ORG

Frank McCormick
University of California at San Francisco
CA, USA
Tel: +1 415 502 1710
E-mail: mccormick@cc.ucsf.edu

(C) Nature press release.


Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza

print this article mail this article
Latest News
Variants Associated with Pediatric Allergic Disorder

Mutations in PHF6 Found in T-Cell Leukemia

Genetic Risk Variant for Urinary Bladder Cancer

Antibody Has Therapeutic Effect on Mice with ALS

Regulating P53 Activity in Cancer Cells

Anti-RNA Therapy Counters Breast Cancer Spread

Mitochondrial DNA Diversity

The Power of RNA Sequencing

‘Pro-Ageing' Therapy for Cancer?

Niche Genetics Influence Leukaemia

Molecular Biology: Clinical Promise for RNA Interference

Chemoprevention Cocktail for Colon Cancer

more news ...

Generated by News Editor 2.0 by Kai Garlipp
WWW: Kai Garlipp, Frank S. Zollmann.
7.0 © 1995-2023 HUM-MOLGEN. All rights reserved. Liability, Copyright and Imprint.