Melanoma is a form of skin cancer of which there is various different types, but it has been found that close to 50% of all melanomas have a mutations in the BRAF gene. With this fact in mind, most of the pharmaceuticals aimed at treating melanomas target the BRAF gene. Unfortunately, it has been found that not all patients with this BRAF gene mutation can be treated by these pharmaceuticals and in other cases, many of the individuals who are treated often relapse because the cancer becomes resistant to the drugs effects. Dr. Ryan Corcoran, a clinical investigator and assistant professor at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Hardvard Medical School says: "Our study has identified decreased phosphorylation of the protein S6 after treatment with BRAF- targeted drugs as a functional bio-marker that predicts sensitivity of BRAF-mutant melanomas to these drugs".
In the study, researchers used the BRAF targeting drug and observed its effects on BRAF mutant melanoma cells that were responsive and resistant to the targeting drug. The study concluded that in the cells responsive to the treatment, they displayed lower S6 phosphorylation and the cells showed a nearly five fold improvement in progression free survival. The final consensus of the study concluded that, "The tests showed that a decrease in S6 phosphorylation after treatment correlated with treatment response". With this new information, researchers are looking to see if this biomarker system is used in other cells and can be used to show if a treatment is working or not in other cancers.
Article:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267784.php
Sub-article:
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancer-melanoma/detailedguide/melanoma-skin-cancer-treating-targeted-therapy
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