The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7482 p673
15 December 2007

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News summary

Gene link to paclitaxel failure

Treatment of ovarian cancer with paclitaxel is more likely to fail in patients who lack the ability to produce the TGFBI (transforming growth factor beta induced) protein (Cancer Cell 2007;12:514).

TGFBI, an extracellular protein, sensitises tumour cells to paclitaxel by inducing microtubule stabilisation, researchers have found, and its absence can cause paclitaxel resistance.

They suggest that patients who lack the TGFBI protein can be spared chemotherapy that will not benefit them. In addition, the discovery may lead to the development of treatments that restore paclitaxel sensitivity in resistant patients.