Human brain specimen with glioblastoma multiforme.
Brain Cancer Cells Hide While Drugs Seek
Tumor cells temporarily lose mutation to evade drugs targeting mutationA team of scientists, led by principal investigator Paul S. Mischel, MD, a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has found that brain cancer cells resist therapy by dialing down the gene mutation targeted by drugs, then re-amplify that growth-promoting mutation after therapy has stopped.
The findings are published in the December 5, 2013 online issue of Science.
“This discovery has considerable clinical implications because if cancer cells can evade therapy by a ‘hide-and-seek’ mechanism, then the current focus (of drug therapies) is unlikely to translate into better outcomes for patients,” said Mischel.
In recent years, new cancer therapies have emerged that target tell-tale gene mutations to identify specific cancer cells for destruction. Unfortunately, a variety of “resistance mechanisms” have also emerged, among them incomplete target suppression, second-site mutations and activation of alternative kinases or enzymes that maintain growth-promoting signals to the cancer itself.
“Most research is aimed at developing better drugs or better drug combinations to suppress these downstream signals,” Mischel said. “However, one thing that has not been carefully considered is whether cancer cells can modulate the levels of – and thus their dependence on – the target of the drug, evade therapy, and then re-acquire the oncogene to promote tumor growth when the drug is withdrawn.”
