Report Sheds Light on Critical Pathway Responsible for Treatment Resistance in Melanoma
Source: The Asco Post, February 2024
Researchers may have uncovered a novel epigenetic pathway involved in the development of treatment resistance in melanoma and a chemical reagent that may be effective in resensitizing treatment-resistant tumors to targeted therapies, according to a recent study published by Wu et al in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Background
Understanding the molecular basis for therapeutic resistance as a major contributor to a lack of long-term treatment success is one of the chief concerns in cancer research and clinical care. In patients with melanoma, the main targeted therapeutic strategy is directed against the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. However, the vast majority of patients experience resistance to MAPK inhibitor therapies within 1 year.
“Although the cancer research community has been very successful in developing specific targeted therapies for the genetic events driving many cancers, most patients are unable to be cured of their cancers due to acquired resistance mechanisms. We are excited about the broader implications this study has for the potential treatment of patients with acquired resistance to cancer therapies,” highlighted co–senior study author Rhoda Alani, MD, the Herbert Mescon Chair of Dermatology at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Chief of Dermatology at the Boston Medical Center