Many cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy, at some point, stop responding to treatment as a result of the development of resistance (stability) of the tumor to drugs, according to the Internet publication for girls and women from 14 to 35 years old Pannochka. net Now scientists at the University of Manchester in the UK say they have found a way to defeat resistant cells, making them more vulnerable to therapy.
The research team, led by Dr. Andrew Gilmore (Andrew Gilmore) recently published its results in the journal Cell Reports.
To achieve their goal, scientists first went deep into the mechanisms that underlie mitosis - the process of cell division. They say that any intervention in this delicate process can lead to apoptosis, or "controlled cell death".
"Unsuccessful completion of mitosis may be the beginning of cancer. We wanted to understand how this failure - the error or delay of cell division - activates apoptosis, and why some cancer cells are able to avoid death, "says Dr. Gilmore.
The team studied cells of colon cancer, some of which are sensitive to paclitaxel (Paclitaxel), a drug often used to treat bowel and breast cancer. Paclitaxel kills cancer, preventing cells from dividing.
Some cells are resistant to it. Dr. Gilmore says that scientists do not understand well enough how and why these cells become resistant to the drug.
Resistant cells avoid activation of the Bid.
In the course of their work, scientists discovered a key protein that regulates apoptosis - it was called Bid. This protein is selectively activated by phosphorylation as soon as the cells reach the final stage of mitosis.
The researchers found that drug resistant cells still have this protein, but they are able to complete mitosis before Bid can activate apoptosis. This means that cancer cells are able to avoid the prescribed, programmed nature of death.
But all the same scientists have found out, that one more regulator of an apoptosis - a preparation of new class AVT-737 - is capable to make cancer cells sensitive to paclitaxel.
Commenting on the results of his research, Dr. Gilmore in an interview with Medical News Today said: "Our results suggest that all cells, including paclitaxel-resistant cancer cells, become hypersensitive to apoptosis during fission. Thus, it is possible to increase the sensitivity of these cells to antimitotic drugs, using them in combination with agents such as AVT-737. Now a lot of preparations of this kind are under development, and many studies of apoptosis regulators like Bid. Therefore, we have high hopes for the future ".
The scientist added that his team is planning to study various types of tumor cells, including cells of resistant breast cancer, to determine the possibility of enhancing the response to standard drugs.
However, Dr. Gilmore warns that this approach will require scientists a lot of time and effort before he gives practical results for cancer therapy.
"In the future, it will be possible to increase the sensitivity of cells to current chemotherapy drugs, affecting the regulators of apoptosis. The drugs that do this, such as Navitoclax (Navitoclax, ABT-263), look promising, "summed up Gilmour.
Earlier this year, Western publications reported a new study in which scientists found that high doses of vitamin D (intravenously) improve the response to cancer chemotherapy.
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