Clin Cancer Res: scientists have found rare but important gene targets in a variety of cancers

April 28, 2019 / BIOON / - a research team led by researchers from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (Georgetown Lombardi) completed the analysis of a new gene fusion, which is the largest analysis of the gene so far They believe that this fusion of genes can lead to many types of cancer The researchers say their research shows that there is a wrong gene fusion of neuregulin-1 (NRG1) in 0.2% of cancers Although a new treatment can effectively treat these cancers, it can also target these cancers with existing drugs The findings, published in the Journal of clinical cancer research, represent a new research field: researchers in this field are concerned with the targeted genes related to cancer occurrence, rather than the organs or body parts where cancer occurs This method is called "tumor agnostic" Photo source: at Georgetown University late last year, the FDA approved the first cancer drug targeting tumor genes for multiple types of cancer The drug targets another gene fusion (ntrk), which is believed to cause 1% of solid tumors "What all cancer researchers want is to find the right treatment for the right patient, no matter where the tumor is The future research direction is to analyze tumors to find unique weaknesses that can be treated with effective molecular therapy, and this research is another step toward this goal, "said Stephen v Liu, senior researcher of the research, associate professor of medicine of Georgetown Lombardi and doctor of medicine When NRG1 gene is fused with another gene, NRG1 fusion gene will appear NRG1 gene is very important for the normal development of heart and nervous system In this collaboration, researchers used caris's molecular database of life sciences to analyze the incidence and characteristics of NRG1 fusion in solid tumors This study determined the incidence of NRG1 fusion in 22000 tumor samples, which is the largest such study so far NRG1 fusion has the highest incidence in NSCLC, but gene fusion detected by RNA sequencing is also found in renal cancer, gallbladder cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer, as well as sarcoma and neuroendocrine cancer "These NRG1 related cancer patients may benefit less from immunotherapy or routine treatment for specific site cancers than they do from treatment for the real causes of cancer," Liu said The researchers also found that NRG1 fusion "partners" - proteins that bind to NRG1 proteins to form cancer promoting pathways - differ within tumors and in different types of tumors "Precision oncology can change the treatment of cancer The treatment of NRG1 cancer will be the next major advance in targeted therapy, and patients should test these types of changes " He said Reference: Stephen v Liu et al Detection of NRG1 gene functions in solid tumors Clinical cancer research Doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-19-0160