New gene linked to oesophageal cancer treatment

A newly discovered gene linked to oesophageal cancer could hold the key to treatments for the hard-to-treat disease. Overexpression of multiple copies of prognostic biomarker TRIM44 leads to higher activity of mTOR, which regulates cells growth and division – processes that become uncontrolled in cancer. Researchers from the University of Cambridge believe that drug therapies based on their discovery could help up to 15% of people diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the UK every year. “We know just how effective treatments targeting the over-expression of genes can be – just look at the success of Herceptin for breast and stomach cancer,” said Professor Fitzgerald from the MRC Cancer Unit at the University. “As there are already a number of drugs which target mTOR, we are hopeful that our discovery could lead to new treatments within the next five years.” Researchers used genomic and transcriptomic data of epithelial cancers, breast cancers and oesophageal cancers to identify genomic abnormalities driving the overexpression of TRIM44 and used integrative analysis across multiple datasets to identify pathways activation and potential therapeutic strategies. They validated the in silico findings in in vitro assays, xenografts and patient samples. When treating mice overexpressing TRIM44 with mTOR inhibitors, researchers were able to reduce the size of tumours. “For cancer of the oesophagus, and other cancers such as breast cancer, when the TRIM44 gene is overexpressed, it can also be used to indicate the likely response of an individual to an mTOR inhibitor drug,” said Fitzgerald. “By tailoring the treatment to the individual, we increase the chance that it will be effective at fighting the disease.” The research has been published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.