2024-10-09 15:19:00
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains the most aggressive and deadly type of breast cancer. 15% of breast cancer cases are triple negative. Its prognosis is poor as the disease is highly resistant to existing treatments because its cells, unlike hormonal tumors, do not have the receptors targeted by breast cancer drugs.
Controlling this type of cancer urgently requires how to attack cells that become resistant to treatments.
One of the innovative strategies is the one proposed by a team of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (USA) in a study published in ‘Nature‘.
Using samples taken from patients in preclinical work, researchers found that combining two therapeutic agents could push the cells of this deadly tumor to a more treatable state.
“When combined, these therapeutic agents can hijack naturally occurring signals in the body to eliminate breast cells after cessation of breastfeeding, thereby killing these aggressive cancer cells,” says lead author Karen Cichowski. “Our findings provide compelling support for the development of clinical trials to test whether combining these agents could benefit patients with triple-negative breast cancer.”
Specifically, the researchers found that combining two types of agents, known as EZH2 and AKT inhibitors, could cause metastatic breast cancer cells to differentiate.
Once cells differentiate, These agents kill tumor cells by triggering a process similar to involution.which typically occurs when breast tissue returns to a non-lactating state after the mother stops producing breast milk.
The researchers also used machine learning to predict patient responses, another step that could help pave the way for clinical trials in patients.
In future studies, this team is interested in exploring whether similar drug combinations might be effective in other tumor types.
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