Tests to Predict Success Presence of Chemotherapy

One of the many cancer treatment is chemotherapy done. Now there are new tests designed to determine how the effectiveness or success or failure of chemotherapy conducted in cancer patients.

This test is designed by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute that will predict the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs on tumor cells in the body of the patient is ready for death or in a state of priming.

The researchers reported that cancer cells that are on the verge of self-destruction is more likely to succumb to certain chemotherapeutic agents compared with cells that have not reached that stage.
These findings indicate it is possible to predict which cancer patients who benefit from chemotherapy, as well as to make chemotherapy drugs to be more effective in inducing tumor cells closer to the point of suicide.

"Many chemotherapeutic agents work by damaging the structure in cancer cells, especially DNA and microtubules (tiny tubes that are used for a variety of cell functions)," said study author from the Dana-Farber, Anthony listless, as quoted from IndiaVision, Monday (31/10 / 2011).

Listless said when the damage is so vast and can not be repaired, then the cells begin a process known as apoptosis in which cells are going to sacrifice themselves in order to avoid damage to the offspring.

Researchers found that cancer cells closer to the apoptotic threshold would be more susceptible to chemotherapy. For that listless and colleagues developed a technique called BH3 profiling to measure how closely these cells entered the stage of apoptosis.

This technique focuses on the mitochondria (cell structures that make the decision to die or not) and a protein known BCL-2 family. In mitochondria there are several BCL-2 proteins that promote apoptosis while others do not. The dominant part will determine the life of the cell to die or not.

The first study applied in myeloma cells from cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. There are known high correlation between cancer cells residing in the priming condition and the most vulnerable to chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy proved most successful in treating tumors if it has mitochondria that are in greater priming condition. The results of this study was published online in the journal Science.