A cancer gene known as astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) has been identified as a major contributor to chemotherapy resistance, according to researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University. The findings suggest that future treatment methods focused on switching off the expression of this gene may improve treatment success of chemotherapy regimens.
Cancer researchers have long viewed AEG-1 as an important gene in the study of cancer. Previous studies have already shown that the gene facilitates cancer cell survival by regulating a variety of critical intracellular processes. Now, the VCU team reports that AEG-1 is also responsible for regulating a tumor’s level of protective autophagy – a process that bolsters the cancer’s defenses against drugs and environmental attack.
According to Paul B. Fisher, Ph.D., of VCU Massey Cancer Center, “Understanding how AEG-1 promotes resistance to chemotherapy and enhances cancer cell survival may lead to treatments that inhibit this gene and its regulated pathways, thereby uncovering potentially new therapeutic targets that can be exploited to enhance the ability of anticancer drugs to fight tumors.”
The findings, which were published in the November 22nd online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), may one day improve the survival rates of patients for a variety of aggressive cancer types.
Source: http://www.dddmag.com/news-Gene-Protects-Cancer-from-Chemo-112310.aspx