Cancer Updates

Public Release: 12-Oct-2010 Journal of Biological Chemistry

BLOCKING AN ONCOGENE IN LIVER CANCER COULD BE POTENTIAL THERAPY OPTION COLUMBUS, Ohio –
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Scientists have found that a synthetic molecule they designed can block activation of a gene in liver cancer cells, halting a process that allows some of those cancer cells to survive chemotherapy.
Without the interference of this gene’s function, certain liver cancer cells appear to be protected from the toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs.
Blocking the oncogene, called STAT3, prevents a protein from protecting the cells, the research suggests. As a result, more liver cancer cells succumb to treatment.
Researchers hope an anti-cancer drug based on the molecule’s design eventually will be developed for use in patients, after the required animal and clinical testing is completed.

A New Rx for Medicine
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Ron Winslow The Wall Street Journal, New York
[A] new trial draws from a growing body of research showing that the genetic makeup of tumors varies widely even among patients diagnosed with the same cancer. Some of these molecular traits, called biomarkers, make a tumor vulnerable to a specific medicine, while others may thwart a drug's effect. A big part of the problem with conventional trials is that they essentially take all comers. Researchers know many participants won't benefit from the treatment. Those who don't respond can cause a drug to fail even though a significant minority of patients might benefit…The study…aims to collect information about experimental drugs that would then enable drug companies to design leaner, faster late-stage trials that enroll only patients whose tumors had a high probability of responding to the treatment. Those trials, called phase III trials, provide critical data used in determining whether a drug will be approved…There are challenges…tumor response to a drug can vary widely despite biomarker status. Doctors say that more evidence is needed linking biomarkers to long-term outcomes.
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