(Press-News.org) A Harvard researcher studying the evolution of drug resistance in cancer is predicting that, in a few decades, "many, many cancers could be manageable."
Martin Nowak, a Harvard Professor of Mathematics and of Biology and Director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, is one of several co-authors of a paper, published in Nature, that details how resistance to targeted drug therapy emerges in colorectal cancers, and suggests a new, multi-drug approach to treatment could make many cancers manageable, if not curable, illnesses.
The key, Nowak's research suggests, is to change the way clinicians battle the disease.
Though physicians and researchers in recent years have increasingly turned to "targeted therapies" – new drugs which combat cancer by interrupting its ability to grow and spread – rather than traditional chemotherapy, the treatment is far from perfect. Most are only effective for a few months before the cancer evolves resistance to the drugs and is able to grow unchecked.
In the particular colon cancer treatment that was the subject of Nowak's research, the culprit is the KRAS gene. Normally responsible for producing a protein to regulate cell division, when activated, the gene helps cancer cells develop resistance to targeted therapy drugs, effectively making the treatment useless.
Based on analysis completed by Benjamin Allen, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Mathematical Biology, and Ivana Bozic, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Mathematics, Nowak's research suggests that, of the billions of cancer cells that exist in a patient, only a tiny percentage – about one in a million – are resistant to drugs used in targeted therapy. When treatment starts, the non-resistant cells are wiped out. The few resistant cells, however, quickly repopulate the cancer, causing the treatment to fail.
The answer, Nowak argued, is simple – rather than the one drug used in targeted therapy, treatments must involve at least two drugs.
Nowak isn't new to such suggestions – in 1995, he participated in a study, also published in Nature, that focused on the rapid evolution of drug resistance in HIV. The end result of that study, he said, was the development of the drug "cocktail" many HIV-positive patients use to help manage the disease.
Ultimately, Nowak estimated that hundreds of drugs might be needed to address all the possible treatment variations. The challenge in the near term, he said, is to develop those drugs. Once available, though, he believes the multi-drug approach offers a new avenue for cancer treatment, one that may fundamentally alter how the public views the disease.
"This will be the main avenue for research into cancer treatment, I think, for the next decade and beyond," Nowak said. "As more and more drugs are developed for targeted therapy, I think we will see a revolution in the treatment of cancer."
###
For more information, visit the Harvard Gazette at: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/07/transforming-cancer-treatment/
Transforming cancer treatment
New study suggests multi-drug approach could one day make many cancers 'manageable,' Harvard researcher says
2012-07-12
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Cells derived from debrided burn tissue may be useful for tissue engineering
2012-07-12
Putnam Valley, NY. (July 11, 2012) –A research team in the Netherlands has found that cells from burn eschar, the non-viable tissue remaining after burn injury and normally removed to prevent infection, can be a source of mesenchymal cells that may be used for tissue engineering. Their study compared the efficacy of those cells to adipose (fat)-derived stem cells and dermal fibroblasts in conforming to multipotent mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) criteria.
Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:5), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. ...
Retina transplantation improved by manipulating recipient retinal microenvironment
2012-07-12
Putnam Valley, NY. (July 11, 2012) – A research team in the United Kingdom has found that insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) impacts cell transplantation of photoreceptor precursors by manipulating the retinal recipient microenvironment, enabling better migration and integration of the cells into the adult mouse retina.
Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:5), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/.
"Photoreceptor death is an irreversible process and represents one of the largest causes of untreatable ...
Toward new drugs for the human and non-human cells in people
2012-07-12
Amid the growing recognition that only a small fraction of the cells and genes in a typical human being are human, scientists are suggesting a revolutionary approach to developing new medicines and treatments to target both the human and non-human components of people. That's the topic of an article, which reviews work relating to this topic from almost 100 studies, in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.
Liping Zhao, Jeremy K. Nicholson and colleagues explain that human beings have been called "superorganisms" because their bodies contain 10 percent human cells and 90 ...
Widespread exposure to BPA substitute is occurring from cash register receipts, other paper
2012-07-12
People are being exposed to higher levels of the substitute for BPA in cash register thermal paper receipts and many of the other products that engendered concerns about the health effects of bisphenol A, according to a new study. Believed to be the first analysis of occurrence of bisphenol S (BPS) in thermal and recycled paper and paper currency, the report appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Kurunthachalam Kannan and colleagues point out that growing evidence of the potentially toxic effects of BPA has led some manufacturers to replace it with ...
White rot fungus boosts ethanol production from corn stalks, cobs and leaves
2012-07-12
Scientists are reporting new evidence that a white rot fungus shows promise in the search for a way to use waste corn stalks, cobs and leaves – rather than corn itself – to produce ethanol to extend supplies of gasoline. Their study on using the fungus to break down the tough cellulose and related material in this so-called "corn stover" to free up sugars for ethanol fermentation appears in the ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.
Yebo Li and colleagues explain that corn ethanol supplies are facing a crunch because corn is critical for animal feed ...
Rio+20 sustainability conference gets mixed reviews
2012-07-12
Although a walkout by disgruntled activists may have grabbed headlines, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro last month did produce hundreds of individual commitments from participants with potential for having major impacts. That's the topic of the cover story of this week's Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
C&EN Senior Correspondent Cheryl Hogue explains that the Rio+20 conference brought together representatives from companies, governments, ...
NASA sees Tropical Storm Daniel move over cooler water
2012-07-12
Tropical Storm Daniel was once a hurricane and now a rapidly weakening tropical storm as a result of moving over cooler waters. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite provided a look at just how cool the waters are that have sapped Daniel's strength.
The TRMM satellite flew above weakening tropical storm Daniel on July 10, 2012 at 0003 UTC. TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data from that pass showed that only light to moderate rainfall (.0.78 to 1.57 inches/20 to 40 mm/hour) was occurring with the weakening storm.
At NASA's ...
Live Fire Tests with FDNY Will Guide Improvements in Fire Department Tactics
2012-07-12
In the name of science, but with aim of saving lives, preventing injuries and reducing property losses, members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) spent much of the first two weeks in July setting fire to 20 abandoned townhouses on Governors Island, about a kilometer from the southern tip of Manhattan.
In a series of "live burn" experiments, conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL), New York firefighters challenged the conventional wisdom on, and tested new tactics for, controlling ...
NIST issues guidance for pediatric electronic health records
2012-07-12
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a guide to help improve the design of electronic health records for pediatric patients so that the design focus is on the users—the doctors, nurses and other clinicians who treat children.
While hospitals and medical practices are accelerating their adoption of electronic health records, these records systems often are not ideal for supporting children's health care needs. Young patients' physiology is different from adults—and varies widely over the course of their growing years. Tasks that are routine ...
Fossil turtle from Colombia round like car tire
2012-07-12
Paleontologist Carlos Jaramillo's group at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and colleagues at North Carolina State University and the Florida Museum of Natural History discovered a new species of fossil turtle that lived 60 million years ago in what is now northwestern South America. The team's findings were published in the Journal of Paleontology.
The new turtle species is named Puentemys mushaisaensis because it was found in La Puente pit in Cerrejón Coal Mine, a place made famous for the discoveries, not only of the extinct Titanoboa, the world's ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Cercus electric stimulation enables cockroach with trajectory control and spatial cognition training
Day-long conference addresses difficult to diagnose lung disease
First-ever cardiogenic shock academy features simulation lab
Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained
Less intensive works best for agricultural soil
Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation
Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests
Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome
UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership
New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll
Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes
University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025
Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials
New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age
Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker
Chips off the old block
Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia
Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry
Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19
Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity
State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections
Young adults drive historic decline in smoking
NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research
Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development
This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack
FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects
A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions
[Press-News.org] Transforming cancer treatmentNew study suggests multi-drug approach could one day make many cancers 'manageable,' Harvard researcher says