Scientists have discovered why a treatment for ovarian cancer only works in half of the patients who have it.
Pacitaxel shrinks ovarian tumors but Cambridge University researchers found that patients lacking a specific type of protein tend to be a immune.
Cancer Research, U K , who funded the survey along with the Medical Research Council, said it will help ensure drugs are given to those likely to benefit.
There are 7000 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed in the U K each year.
Pacitaxel is part of a family of drugs called taxanes originally derived from yew trees.
The researchers examined ovarian cancer cells and data from 20 patients. They found those who did not respond to Pacitaxel had lower levels of a protein called TGFBI in their pre-treatment samples.
And further analysis revealed that cancer cell death rate was higher following treatment where levels of TGFBI were high.
No comments:
Post a Comment