A class of drugs used to treat certain breast cancers could help to tackle lung cancers that have become resistant to targeted therapies, suggests a new study in mice. The research, published in Cell Reports, found that lung tumors in mice caused by mutations in a gene called EGFR shrunk significantly when a protein called p110α was blocked.
Drugs to block p110α are currently showing promise in clinical trials against certain breast cancers, so could be approved for clinical use in the near future. The new findings suggest that these drugs could potentially benefit patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers whose tumors have become resistant to treatment.
"At the moment, patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers are given targeted treatments that are very effective for the first few years," explains study leader author. "These drugs are improving, but unfortunately after a couple of years the cancer usually becomes resistant and starts to grow and spread again. The second line of treatment is currently conventional chemotherapy, which is not targeted and has substantial side-effects.
"Our new study suggests that it would be worth investigating whether p110α inhibitors could be used as a second-line therapy. As our research is at such an early stage, more research in mice and patient cells would be needed before even considering clinical trials, but it opens up a promising avenue of investigation."
For this research, the team targeted a specific interaction between the RAS protein and p110α. The RAS gene is mutated in around one in five cancers, causing uncontrolled growth. When they blocked this interaction in genetically modified mice with EGFR mutations, their tumors shrank significantly.
Before the intervention, the tumors filled around two thirds of the space inside the lung. When the interaction between RAS and p110α was genetically blocked, this shrank significantly to about a tenth of the space inside the lung. The intervention also had very few side-effects.
"As we wanted to pinpoint the specific interaction responsible, we used a genetic technique that would not be practical in a patient treatment," says the author. "We're looking to develop ways to do this with drugs, as blocking this specific pathway would significantly reduce side-effects, but this work is many years from the clinic. In the medium-term, investigating existing drugs that inhibit p110α will be the next step. While these have side-effects, including temporary diabetes-like symptoms during treatment, they are still less toxic than chemotherapy."
https://www.crick.ac.uk/news/2018-12-21_breast-cancer-drugs-could-help-treat-resistant-lung-cancers
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(18)31914-4
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fdisruption-of-the&filter=22
Latest News
How does the brain turn wav…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
A trial HIV vaccine trigger…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
AI to predict DNA methylati…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
Hyperactive platelets from…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
Chromatin and RNA interacti…
By newseditor
Posted 18 May
Other Top Stories
Age-related cognitive decline tied to immune-system molecule
Read more
Some young adults are aging three times faster than others
Read more
Discovery of molecule responsible for birth timing could lead to pr…
Read more
Sox9 is required for a normal epithelial repair process after acute…
Read more
Altering daily light-dark cycles affects fertility in middle-aged f…
Read more
Protocols
Breast cancer-on-chip for p…
By newseditor
Posted 16 May
Methods for making and obse…
By newseditor
Posted 15 May
Mime-seq 2.0: a method to s…
By newseditor
Posted 13 May
Improved detection of DNA r…
By newseditor
Posted 09 May
Single-cell adhesive profil…
By newseditor
Posted 07 May
Publications
Molecular mechanism of treh…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
Hue selectivity from recurr…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
Vaccine induction of hetero…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
Brain border-associated mac…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
Inhibition of fatty acid up…
By newseditor
Posted 19 May
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar