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Therapy Targets Resistant Lung Cancer
Reported January 20, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Combination therapy may produce longer
remissions for patients with non-small cell lung (NSCLC) cancer that is
unresponsive to treatment.
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General
Hospital Cancer Center found some patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers --
which account for 12 percent of all NSCLC cases in the United States --
harbor cells with an overabundance of a protein called MET. Those cells can
spark drug resistance, making treatment more difficult.
Study investigators found patients with such drug-resistant tumors could
benefit from drugs that specifically target the problem cells, in
combination with a drug called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
“Our findings provide a strong rationale for combination treatment
strategies as initial therapies for some patients," lead study investigator
Pasi Janne, M.D., Ph.D, of the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute, was quoted as
saying. “This is especially the case in patients with evidence of
pre-existing MET amplifications."
Investigators believe this discovery could allow doctors to tailor cancer
treatments with greater precision to prevent tumor resistance.
SOURCE: Cancer Cell, January 2010 |
