Cancer researchers at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne have identified a potential pathway for the development of precision medicine, targeting an aggressive form of non-small cell lung cancer, one of the most common types of lung cancer.
In a world-first study published in Science Signalling this month, lead researchers Professor Ygal Haupt and Dr Cristina Gamell have zeroed in on the behaviour of a set of proteins that normally act to suppress the development of tumours.
These proteins were found to be dysfunctional in particularly aggressive cases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC accounts for around 90% of the 10,000 cases of lung cancer diagnosed in Australia each year.
A key step during the onset of most NSCLCs is the loss of the tumour suppressor protein – p16INK4a (p16). In around a third of NSCLC cases, loss of p16 protein is caused by abnormal silencing of the p16 gene through a process called hypermethylation.
Professor Haupt and Dr Gamell’s research has uncovered the intricate chain of events that leads to a loss of function in some of the remaining two thirds of cases.
Link para a notícia: News Cancer Research
