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Patients with lung cancer (shown here) developed a wide array of resistance mechanisms to a KRAS inhibitor drug. SPL/Science Source
Tumors find many ways to evade groundbreaking cancer drug
Jun. 23, 2021 , 5:45 PM
Researchers were ecstatic 2 years ago when, after decades of effort, they devised drugs that could block a tumor-promoting protein in cancer patients called KRAS, which previously seemed impervious to treatment. But many of these KRAS inhibitors the first of which was approved by U.S. regulators in May quickly lost their luster, like other targeted cancer drugs: Most patients’ tumors resumed growing after a few months, as their cancer cells became resistant to the inhibitors. Now, a study finds that the roots of this resistance are surprisingly complex, with tumors using an array of escape routes to evade the attack on KRAS.
Session Time: April 13, 11:17-11:39 a.m. EST
Summary: Kaelin will highlight the important physiologic constraints a cancer tissue must operate within, focusing on the critical role hypoxia plays in not only tumor growth but progression, and how modulating the hypoxia machinery will limit tumor progression. The ability to target cancer at several molecular levels provides hope that our therapies will not only be more effective but also more durable. The lingering question is how to deploy these approaches by identifying which patients are most likely to benefit.
In addition to the exciting research presentations, Andrew Aguirre, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Center for Gastrointestinal Oncology, has been named a 2021 AACR NextGen Star. Aguirre will present during the NextGen Stars Spotlight Session: Genetics and Epigenetics.