Identification of a chemotherapy resistance factor in breast cancer patients
- Date:
- May 19, 2016
- Source:
- JCI Journals
- Summary:
- Scientists have identified low expression of methylation-controlled J protein (MCJ) as a marker of poor response to chemotherapy.
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Chemotherapy is a key part of the standard treatment regimen for triple-negative breast cancer patients whose cancer lacks expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). While many patients respond well to chemotherapy, a significant fraction of those treated are resistant to chemotherapy or will develop recurrent tumors that are chemoresistant.
In the current issue of JCI Insight, a research team led by Mercedes Rincon at the University of Vermont identified low expression of methylation-controlled J protein (MCJ) as a marker of poor response to chemotherapy.
In a prospective study of 62 breast cancer patients, they demonstrated that MCJ expression correlates with pathological and clinical responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Further, by analyzing a large clinical data set from breast cancer repositories, they found that breast cancer patients with low-MCJ-expressing tumors had reduced relapse-free survival.
Lastly, they examined a mammary tumor mouse model and showed that mice deficient in MCJ had larger tumors and increased chemoresistance. Their study suggests that MCJ may be useful as a marker of chemotherapy response and could be a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment.
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Materials provided by JCI Journals. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Maria J. Fernández-Cabezudo, Issam Faour, Kenneth Jones, Devin P. Champagne, Mohammed A. Jaloudi, Yassir A. Mohamed, Ghada Bashir, Saeeda Almarzooqi, Alia Albawardi, M. Jawad Hashim, Thomas S. Roberts, Haytham El-Salhat, Hakam El-Taji, Adnan Kassis, Dylan E. O’Sullivan, Brock C. Christensen, James DeGregori, Basel K. al-Ramadi, Mercedes Rincon. Deficiency of mitochondrial modulator MCJ promotes chemoresistance in breast cancer. JCI Insight, 2016; 1 (7) DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.86873
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