Perth scientists have made a gene discovery that could improve the survival of bowel cancer patients by making their chemotherapy more effective.

The research, published in the prestigious British Journal of Cancer, has identified genes involved in a process known as "notch signalling" which is switched on by bowel cancer and makes tumours grow faster.

But the WA Institute for Medical Research said it was possible that doctors could use special drugs to intercept this process.

A study led by institute deputy director Peter Leedman examined colorectal tumour tissues from 441 consenting patients having surgery and chemotherapy to treat their cancers at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

Researcher Patrick Candy said notch signalling in the colon was normally low in healthy adults but studies on colon cancer cell-lines had shown that when tumours learnt how to switch on the process they became much more resistant to chemo- therapy.

"The WAIMR team looked for the first time at notch signalling in human colon cancer patients and we saw a very dramatic result," Dr Candy said. "For example, one protein we studied, SOX9, showed patients had an eightfold higher risk of death when it was found at high levels.

"Our work is leading to the point where medical professionals may be able to test levels of these notch proteins and use it to decide whether notch inhibitory drugs might be helpful in making chemotherapy treatment work better."

Excerpt from:
Gene points to better bowel cancer treatment

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