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Detection of gene mutation may improve cancer treatment
If future research proves out, the status of a gene implicated in a variety of familial cancers could prove to be a key factor in designing patient treatments.
Jeffrey Holt, MD, a professor of cell biology and pathology at Vanderbilt University Cancer Center (Nashville, TN), has found a correlation between a mutation in the cancer gene BRCA2 and the potential for a positive response to treatment. Holt and his colleagues found that tumors caused by a mutation in BRCA2 were especially vulnerable to treatment by radiation and certain chemotherapies.
Inherited defects in the BRCA2 gene have been implicated in familial breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer. If further research succeeds, BRCA2 screening could be used not only to determine a patient's risk of developing one of the cancers, or to diagnose the disease, but also to direct subsequent treatment.
BRCA2 has been shown to help repair double-stranded DNA breaks. Radiation and some chemotherapy drugs induce DNA strand breaks. Holt's team reasons that tumor cells lacking in full BRCA2 activity are less able to repair themselves, and therefore succumb to treatment more readily.
The study was conducted on mouse pancreatic cells. While the strategy is exciting, Holt cautions that the system must be proven in humans before drawing any broad conclusions.—Gary Woo
