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Epigenetic regulator explains why some lung cancer patients become resistant to common therapeutics

Doctors typically treat people with nonsmall cell lung cancer, a prevalent and typically incurable type of cancer that makes up 80%-85% of lung cancers, with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, specifically epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors. About 15%-20% of these patients will become resistant to these standard treatments, resulting in their eventual death. Researchers understand part of the reason for this: The cells develop a mutation that leads to resistance. But about half of those resistant patients remain unexplained. Andrea Kasinski, a cellular biologist, and her lab have discovered that some of the explanation is epigenetic. When cells lose the histone methyltransferase (KMT5C), genes that KMT5C were repressing instead become expressed, leading to resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors. This understanding lays the groundwork for future therapeutics and gives researchers and doctors a deeper insight into the biology and progression of cancers, especially th ....

Brittany Steff , Andrea Kasinski , Cancer Research , Purdue University , Purdue Research Foundation , Purdue Institute For Drug Discovery , Purdue Center , National Institutes Of Health , Patty Miller Associate Professor , Biological Sciences , Purdue Institute , National Institutes ,