Gene Mutation Makes Tumors Vulnerable to Chemotherapy

Most cancer patients have a mutation in a gene called p53 which allows tumors to continue to grow even after chemotherapy. A new study from MIT biologists have discovered that tumor cells with the mutated p53 can be affected by the chemotherapy in a stronger way by blocking a certain gene called MK2. The study was conducted on mice and revealed that tumors lacking both p53 and MK2 became much smaller when the drug cisplatin was applied. Tumors with functional MK2 continued to grow after cisplatin was applied. The results reveal that giving cancer patients both a combination of a DNA damaging drug and an MK2 inhibitor would be extremely effective against the growth in tumors. The p53 gene is a tumor suppressor protein that controls cell divison. Before cell division undergoes, the p53 gene repairs the DNA if neccessary. At times the damage is too much and the p53 gene forces cell death, or apoptosis, tumors that lack p53 do not have this happen. "Our data suggested if you block the MK2 pathway, tumor cells wouldn't recognize that they had DNA damage and they would keep trying to divide despite having DNA damage, and they would end up committing suicide," Yaffe states. Using the mice researchers discovered that before treatment, tumors lacking both MK2 and p53 grow much faster than tumors that have just MK2. Therefore, treating tumors with an MK2 inhibitor alon would do more harm than good alowing the tumor to continue to grow. The combination of cisplatin and MK2 inhibitors is different from any other chemotherapy combinations that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The researchers also recieved similar results in cancer cells grown in the lab from bone, cervical and other tumors.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/268877.php
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/chemotherapy/chemotherapyprinciplesanin-depthdiscussionofthetechniquesanditsroleintreatment/chemotherapy-principles-types-of-chemo-drugs