Study Reinforces Treatment Idea for Cancer with Microsatellite Instability

 A new study led by NCI researchers backs up a recent hypothesis that targeting an enzyme known as WRN could be a new strategy to treat some tumors. There are no known medications that directly target the enzyme, but the NCI team—along with numerous drug companies—is looking for one.

Scientists discovered last year that cancer cells with a genetic trait known as microsatellite instability-high (MSI-high) require WRN to survive. WRN deletion killed MSI-high cancer cells but not healthy cells, igniting interest in a potential novel therapeutic strategy.

MSI-high malignancies account for about one-third of endometrial cancers and one-seventh of colorectal, stomach, and ovarian cancers. It's a common feature of tumors in persons with Lynch syndrome, a hereditary condition that raises the risk of cancer. If a person's cancer has a high MSI, specific tests can be used to establish this.

According to Sergei Mirkin, Ph.D., of Tufts University, who wasn't involved in the research, the new discovery answers the key question of why MSI-high cancer cells rely so heavily on WRN.

The NCI researchers discovered that WRN unwinds unique DNA structures that appear more frequently in MSI-high cancer cells than in other cancer cells. These unique structures eventually cause the DNA to shatter in MSI-high cancer cells that lack WRN, killing the cells.

According to the study's principal researcher, André Nussenzweig, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research, the findings may revolutionize how cancer researchers think about microsatellite instability. The study included teams from a variety of additional institutions.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A dog study could help Researchers better understand how gliomas affect the Immune system.

Image
High-grade gliomas, or brain tumors, in dogs have more immune cells involved with suppressing immune response than low-grade gliomas, according to a new study. The study adds to the growing body of evidence that these brain tumors may recruit cells that aid in immunosuppression. The findings could impact future immunotherapy-based glioma treatments in people and dogs. Glial cells are little support cells that can be found all across the brain and spinal cord. The tumor that results when those cells become malignant is known as glioma. Gliomas are the second most prevalent kind of central nervous system tumour in dogs, accounting for around 35% of all intracranial cancers. The typical survival period for dogs with glioma treated with radiation therapy is nine to fourteen months, which is comparable to the 14-month median survival time for humans treated with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Gliomas in dogs are classified as an oligodendroglioma, astrocytoma, or undefined glioma. Ba
Read more

Heart Problems: Investigating the Cardiac Side Effects of Cancer Treatments

Image
In June, nearly 100 experts gathered on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, MD, to discuss a crucial but underestimated side effect of various cancer treatments: heart issues. Certain cancer treatments have the potential to harm the heart and circulatory system. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as newer forms of cancer treatment such targeted treatments and immunotherapies, can cause or exacerbate these adverse effects, which include high blood pressure, irregular cardiac rhythms, and heart failure.                                              At the meeting, Saro Armenian, D.O., M.P.H., noted, "Cancer medicines affect a lot of organs and organ systems, including the heart." Dr. Armenian, who treats children with cancer at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, explained that if a patient has cardiac side effects during treatment, a doctor may adjust the therapy's dose or discontinue it entirely. However, certain cardiac side effects
Read more