Breast cancer drug effectiveness 'may depend on proteins'
The effectiveness of a type of drug which stops the progression of cancer may depend on the body producing two key proteins, it has been claimed.
A new study by Indiana University Bloomington scientists published in this month's Cancer Biology and Therapy journal shows that the medication Fulvestrant appears to exert maximum anti-cancer effects when cells produced normal or elevated quantities of the cytokeratins CK8 and CK18.
These structural proteins help give the nucleus its shape and lead investigator Kenneth Nephew said that for fulvestrant to work well, the cells must also be responsive to oestrogen and produce the oestrogen receptor ER-alpha.
"We need an effective panel of markers that inform physicians about what treatment options will be most beneficial to patients. These three gene products should be investigated further to determine whether they should be included in that panel," said Mr Nephew, a Medical Sciences Program Bloomington cancer biologist.
He explained that normally, breast cancer cells can grow faster in the presence of oestrogen, which attaches to receptors embedded in the cancer cell, such as ER-alpha in the cytoplasm and nucleus.
The oestrogen-ER complex can then act to turn on genes or amplify their expression, but not all cancer cells are responsive to oestrogen or fulvestrant, which counteracts oestrogen's effects.
Mr Nephew said that the new findings may help experts to work out which patients will be more susceptible to the drug, something which may boost the hopes of the one million breast cancer sufferers worldwide.
"To that end we are talking with George Sledge at the Indianapolis campus about the feasibility of clinical studies. That would be the next step," he explained.
Posted by Louise Jones
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