Between 15 and 20 percent of breast cancers are HER2-positive, characterized by high levels of the HER2 protein (Freepik)
Between 15 and 20 percent of people with breast cancer have higher levels of a protein called HER2. That is why they are called “HER2-positive” breast cancers”. During the last decades, there have been developed targeted therapies that may be indicated for these patients. However, some record resistance after one year.
Now, a team of researchers from Spain, the United States and China they got identify a set of genes in mice, that could open the door to new treatments in humans. The discovery consists of a “genetic signature of susceptibility” which could be useful to predict the prognosis of cancer cases HER2-positive.
Likewise, the signature could also be used to estimate the capacity of the tumor to spread in the body and its response to various treatments.
In some cases, specific therapies for HER2-positive cancer show resistance after a year/ /QUIRON SALUD
While genetic variations were known to control susceptibility to breast cancer driven by HER2there were still many genetic factors to be discovered.
The new results were published in the specialized magazine eBioMedicineand researchers believe that if the genetic signature were validated with more studies, it could help design more personalized and effective treatments for patients.
“Moving toward precision medicine for cancer patients requires consideration of individual genetic variations. The susceptibility gene signature discovered in our study in mice can serve as a biomarker to adapt treatments in patients with breast cancer,” the scientists stated to explain the implications of the finding.
The expression of the HER2 protein in breast cancer tissue from a patient / Wikipedia
Although the work focused on breast cancer HER2-positiveconsider that the results obtained could be extrapolables to other subtypes of the disease.
It was done through a collaboration between researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Texas A&M University, in the United States, the University of Salamanca / CSIC of SpainZhongnan Hospital of the Wuhan University of China, among other institutions.
They discovered in mice a genetic signature of susceptibility that could predict the behavior of HER2-positive cancer (Illustrative Image Infobae)
The research team used a mouse model with a genetic profile that simulates the genetic diversity of the human population. This facilitated the identification of markers associated with different aspects of tumor development.
One of the co-authors, Jesus Perez-Losadaresearcher of CSICexplained in a statement: “We have identified a series of genes that, in these animal models, are associated with the appearance, number and expansion of tumors to other organs; as well as in the response to treatment with taxanes”, a class of chemotherapeutic drugs.
The combination of genes led to the creation of a genetic signature in miceknown as mTSGSwhich also has an equivalent in humans, hTSGS. The hTSGS genetic signature would have significant potential to anticipate the response of tumors to different chemotherapy regimens. This would imply that precision could be improved in choosing the most appropriate treatments for each patient.
The new genetic signature could estimate how tumors spread and their response to treatments / EFE / Chema Moya / File
The expression of such signature genes was analyzed in human tumors, and the expression levels demonstrated significant potential for predicting the response to different chemotherapy treatment regimens of HER2-induced breast tumors and other breast cancer subtypes.
“Thus, patients with tumors with low scores in this genetic signature showed a greater probability of responding favorably to certain chemotherapy treatments and vice versa, which could encourage us to look for alternatives in those patients for whom certain therapies would not be beneficial a priori,” he clarified.
After validation studies of the genetic signature are carried out, more personalized and effective treatments could be indicated (Illustrative Image Infobae)
The president of the Argentine Association of Clinical Oncology (AAOC)the doctor Diego Kaencommented to Infobae after reading the new study: “Today there are already extremely effective treatments for patients with HER2-positive breast tumors. The new study continues to move toward developing additional tools for resistant cases in the future. The aim is to control the resistance mechanisms and Breast cancer is increasingly becoming a chronic disease.”.
In this regard, Andrea Lleracancer researcher at Leloir Institute Foundation and the Conicethe said to Infobae that the study presents “a new signature that combines susceptibility, prognosis and prediction from a mouse model. “In order for it to be used with patients, it will have to go through all the validation processes of clinical usefulness.”
