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This week on Health Watch, we’ve been talking about some recent breakthroughs in research on cancer and cancer treatment. Unfortunately, cancer cells may develop a resistance to certain cancer drugs, so the drugs are no longer effective. This is caused by a particular protein that pumps drugs out of the system before they do harm. There are drugs that bypass this protein, and doctors at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined how these drugs work at a genetic level. That research also showed how cancer cells might become resistant to these drugs. A single genetic mutation could render these drugs ineffective.
Dr. Michael Roth, a UT Southwestern biochemist, says this kind of research is important for helping doctors discover possible drug side effects before the drugs are used more widely.
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June 2007
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