EMBO J: discovery of personalized treatment markers for cancer

April 30, 2019 / bioin / - cancer cells are characterized by the ability to escape apoptosis, a programmed cell death that allows the body to remove damaged cells Many researches on new chemotherapy drugs aim at inducing apoptosis, killing cancer cells or reducing tumor size Scientists at the Institute of biomedical research (IRB) in Barcelona have shown that Tp53inp2 protein plays an important role in inducing cell death This finding may be related to the treatment of some cancers Photo source: the EMBO journal "we observed that when Tp53inp2 was overexpressed, specific receptors on the cell membrane were activated to accelerate apoptosis On the contrary, cells that do not express this protein are more resistant to apoptosis " Antonio zorzano, head of IRB's complex metabolic disease and mitochondrial laboratory, commented In the recent EMBO journal, the researchers described how the protein improves the efficacy of certain chemotherapy drugs, such as trail "We have shown that Tp53inp2 makes tumor cells more sensitive to death signals, including trail." Saš Ka Ivanova explained that she was a postdoctoral researcher at IRB and the first author of the study Trail has great potential in the treatment of cancer, because it can selectively induce cancer cell death Since its discovery in 1995, many clinical trials have been devoted to the study of the drug However, not all cancer patients respond to this treatment Now researchers at IRB Barcelona have confirmed the relationship between high levels of Tp53inp2 and the increased response of liver and breast cancer cells to trail One problem with using trail to treat tumors is the need to identify patients who may respond to this treatment, because trail can promote some types of tumor progression "We recommend Tp53inp2 as a potential marker to determine which patients can benefit from trail therapy." Zorzano, a professor at the University of Barcelona and a researcher at ciberdem, explained Personalized medical treatment is a way to adapt the treatment to the characteristics of each patient's disease It has become one of the most potential health care strategies Understanding each type of cancer and choosing the most effective treatment will improve the survival rate of patients However, this requires biomarkers In this regard, the study provides a new approach to support doctors in choosing personalized treatment options "We are now extending our research to other types of cancer, such as lung cancer, to determine whether Tp53inp2 can also improve the effect of trail therapy." Ivanova added Reference: SA š Ka Ivanova et al Regulation of death receiver signaling by the autophagy protocol Tp53inp2, the EMBO Journal (2019) Doi: 10.15252/embj.201899300