Reboot to resist. The secret to some cancers鈥� drug resistance may lie in their power to reactivate a switch that potentially protects fetuses from toxins. Tampering with that ability could make the cancers treatable again.
The genetic switch, called PITX2, is normally active only in the embryo, where its main job is to orchestrate the symmetry of some internal organs, including the heart, lungs, and spleen.
at the Witten/Herdecke University in Germany and his team have found PITX2 also helps to flush toxins out of cells. The researchers discovered the switch is reawakened in some cancer cells, including those of the thyroid, kidney, colon and ovary, where it helps dispose of anti-cancer drugs.
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鈥淭he onset of cancer is often through reactivation of embryonic development pathways that are otherwise dormant,鈥� says Th茅venod.
Several genes linked to the flushing out of drugs from cancer cells are already known. PITX2 provides a new treatment target. Th茅venod is hopeful that drugs can be found to restore drug sensitivity by silencing PITX2 in cancer cells.
鈥淨uite a few embryonic genes are turning out to be involved in cancer, so this one is intriguing,鈥� says Kat Arney of . But she cautions that the work is only in cells so far. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an awful long way to go to before it becomes relevant to cancer treatment,鈥� she says.
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