Researchers discover new therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma resistant to targeted therapies
Source: Medical Xpress, May 2024
An international research team led by scientists from the University of Liège has discovered an interesting new therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma resistant to targeted therapies. Inhibition of the VARS enzyme could prevent this therapeutic resistance by resensitizing tumors resistant to these targeted therapies. The work has been published in Nature Cell Biology.
Melanoma is one of the most serious and aggressive forms of skin cancer. When diagnosed early, melanoma is surgically removed. However, once metastases (i.e. secondary distant tumors) have developed, melanoma becomes difficult to treat, limiting patients’ chances of recovery.
Every year in Belgium, around 3,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma. Doctors use targeted therapies to treat skin melanoma patients with a mutation in the BRAF gene—the gene responsible for producing B-Raf, the protein that promotes the development of cancer.