New Discoveries in Targeting Drug-Resistant Colon Cancer
Recent vital discoveries have been made in colon cancer research. Scientists have discovered a link between retinoic acid (RA) and the Wingless-related integration site (WNT) signaling pathways, vital for tumors to grow. Abnormality in WNT signaling has been associated with the development of many cancers and is possibly a contributing factor in drug resistance and the reoccurrence of tumors.
Dysregulation of RA and WNT signaling is
vital to the development of colorectal cancer by scientists at the Cawley
Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Graham Cancer Center.
The APC tumor suppressor gene regulates
the renewal of stem cells and their numbers. Therefore, mutations or
malfunctions in this or other normal genes lead to the development of tumors.
Previous research had revealed that the
RA signaling pathway spurred the maturation and differentiation of the colon
stem cells. A more recent study linked the malformation and excessive growth of
colon stem cells to deformations in RA signaling due to APC mutations.
An investigation into a rare genetic
condition known as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) revealed that APC
mutations gave rise to increased WNT signaling in patients with FAP.This
suggests that cancer of the colon originates from an anomaly between RA and WNT
signaling.
According to the lead researcher, these
findings were indicative of the possibility of developing therapies for
advanced colorectal cancer that are more efficient. For instance, retinoids
found within the RA pathway have had positive results in treating cancers like
acute promyelocytic leukemia.
More research into the links between RA
and WNT signaling pathways could lead to the development of treatments that
would be more effective in targeting cancer stem cells.
Therefore, the findings in this research
are significant and may lead to discovering the genesis of colorectal cancer.
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