Chemotherapy effectiveness hopes rise

Scientists believe they can improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments by tackling the proteins which promote drug resistance in tumours.

Publishing their report today in the EMBO journal, researchers funded by Cancer Research UK argue that their analysis of the molecular basis of proteins preventing chemotherapy from working in sufferers of small cell lung cancer could have wider implications for cancer sufferers.

They believe that tumours with the protein known as FGF-2 are less likely to respond to treatment, while the molecule S6K2 is required for drug resistance. Although drugs exist which can limit FGF-2, its importance in healthy mechanisms led the researchers to focus on S6K2 in their search for transferable effectiveness to other types of cancers.

“We knew that S6K2 existed but no one knew exactly what it did before now,” explained Dr Downward, head of Cancer Research UK’s signal transduction laboratory.

“It seems to regulate a number of proteins that control whether cells live or die. It is also essential for the development of drug resistance in small cell lung cancer.”

The scientists believe that by identifying the existence of S6K2 in other proteins preventing chemotherapy from tackling tumours, they could improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments and save countless lives.

Professor John Toy, Cancer Research UK’s medical director, said: “If this kind of drug resistance could be overcome, it would be a major step forward in the treatment of lung cancer, which has proved so difficult to beat with existing chemotherapy drugs.”

Around 33,000 people die from lung cancer in the UK every year.

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