Breakthrough Breast Cancer Scientists Develop New Method To Predict Patient Response To Herceptin

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 30 Jul 2009 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Breakthrough Breast Cancer scientists have taken a significant step towards personalising cancer treatment by developing a method to predict a patient's response to the drug Herceptin.

Scientists based in Edinburgh are the first to use computer modelling to predict individual responses to cancer treatment. The results are published in the journal Cancer Research on 28 July 2009.

Lead scientist, pathologist Dr Dana Faratian from the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit, at the University of Edinburgh, said: "This work is a major step forward because despite Herceptin benefiting thousands of women, it does not work for some patients.

"The impact of this new approach could be huge. It shows we can use computer modelling to answer clinical questions and potentially refine the treatment of women with breast cancer."

The team devised a mathematical model to represent the interactions of 56 different molecules involved in breast cancer. The scientists identified that the amount of the protein PTEN in a cell was related to resistance to anti-HER2 therapy. This model was confirmed in breast cancer cells grown in the laboratory.

The scientists examined 122 samples of metastatic breast cancer tumours treated with Herceptin. They demonstrated that the amount of PTEN was related to overall survival and patients whose breast cancer tumours had high levels of PTEN survived on average 22 months longer than those with low levels.

Researchers now need to find ways to translate these findings on predicting a patient's response to Herceptin from the laboratory into a test that could work in the clinic.

These important results would not have been possible without the use of the amazingly powerful AQUA microscope. Costing £150,000 and one of a very small number in the UK, it allows scientists to see where and how much of a protein is in a cell.

About one in five of the nearly 46,000 cases of breast cancer in the UK are HER2 positive and those women may be offered Herceptin as part of their treatment. Herceptin has made a major impact in breast cancer treatment but clinical trials have shown that some HER2 positive breast cancer patients may not respond to Herceptin or become resistant to the drug.

These results come just a year after the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Edinburgh Research Unit was opened by Breakthrough's Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer's research is funded almost entirely by voluntary donations. For more information about Breakthrough Breast Cancer's research and how to support the charity, visit breakthrough.org.uk/research or call 08080 100 200.

Source
Breakthrough Breast Cancer

• Additional
• References
• Citations