Discovery could herald personalized treatments for breast cancer

Boston-area researchers have discovered the reason why some breast cancer patients respond to normal chemotherapy but others do not.

Led by Andrea Richardson and Zhigang Charles Wang, investigators at the Dana-Farber Women's Cancers Program have identified two genes that, when abnormally active, enabled cancer cells to resist the effects of drugs called anthracyclines, a class that includes doxorubicin, daunorubicin, and epirubicin.

Despite their resistance to drugs of the anthracycline class, the breast cancers bearing this gene signature will probably still be vulnerable to other types of chemotherapy agents, the scientists note in a letter published online in Nature Medicine.

These findings could lead to a genetic test of breast cancers to help physicians choose the best initial treatment for an individual, thus avoiding the trial-and-error approach that in some cases exposes patients to the toxic side effects of a cancer drug that is destined to be ineffective. However that such a tool should not be difficult to develop, she said, and could be available for clinical testing within a year or two, Richardson says in a statement.

- see the press release
- a copy of the letter is available for purchase here

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