Mutated gene weakens cancer-fighting drugs

Researchers have discovered why some anti-cancer drugs become less effective. They have found a mutation in a gene that makes some cancer drugs less effective, as well as a solution to tackle this problem. Led by Assoc. Prof. Ong Sin Tiong of Duke-NUS graduate medical school, the team of researchers found that specific drugs to combat specific types of lung and blood cancers did not work well in patients with the mutated gene. This mutation appears in about 15% of East Asians, and to a lesser extent in other Asians, but is completely absent in Caucasians and Africans.
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Researchers have discovered why some anti-cancer drugs become less effective. They have found a mutation in a gene that makes some cancer drugs less effective, as well as a solution to tackle this problem. Led by Assoc. Prof. Ong Sin Tiong of Duke-NUS graduate medical school, the team of researchers found that specific drugs to combat specific types of lung and blood cancers did not work well in patients with the mutated gene. This mutation appears in about 15% of East Asians, and to a lesser extent in other Asians, but is completely absent in Caucasians and Africans.
To address this problem, the team has developed another additional drug that is currently not commercially available. Clinical and full-scale human trials are still underway to test the new medicine. Findings of this research have been published in Nature Medicine – one of the leading biomedical journals.

Tags: anti-cancer drug, cancer, drugs, gene, gene mutation

Category: Pharmaceuticals