medresearch: Study: Nanoparticles Could Help Overcome...

[Health and Medicine]

medresearch:

Study: Nanoparticles Could Help Overcome Treatment-Resistant Breast Cancer

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine have been able to generate multifunctional RNA nanoparticles that could overcome treatment resistance in breast cancer, potentially making existing treatments more effective in these patients. 

The study, published in the Dec. 14, 2016, online edition of American Chemical Society’s ACS Nano and led by Xiaoting Zhang, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at the UC College of Medicine, shows that using a nanodelivery system to target HER2-positive breast cancer and stop production of the protein MED1 could slow tumor growth, stop cancer from spreading and sensitize the cancer cells to treatment with tamoxifen, a known therapy for estrogen-driven cancer.

MED1 is a protein often produced at abnormally high levels in breast cancer cells that when eliminated is found to stop cancer cell growth. HER2-positive breast cancer involves amplification of a gene encoding, or programming, the protein known as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, which also promotes the growth of cancer cells. MED1 co-produces (co-expresses) and co-amplifies with HER2 in most cases, and Zhang’s previous studies have shown their interaction plays key roles in anti-estrogen treatment resistance. 

“These findings are highly promising for potential clinical treatment of advanced metastatic and tamoxifen-resistant human breast cancer. Further studies are still needed and hopefully soon we’ll be able to test our nanoparticles in clinical trials at the UC Cancer Institute’s Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center.”

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Funding: This study was supported by the UC Cancer Institute Drake Pilot Award, Ride Cincinnati, a Cincinnati Cancer Center Pilot Grant, the Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Research Grant (KG110028), the National Institutes of Health (R01CA197865, R01 EB019036) and the U.S. Department of Defense Idea Award (W81XWH-15-1-0052). 

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