Research carried out at Dundee University could improve the treatment of women with ovarian cancer.
A team at the school of medicine has discovered that measuring how active a gene is could predict which women will benefit from platinum-based chemotherapy drugs a common treatment for the disease.
The FGF1 gene, which helps to fuel the growth of tumours, is highly active in aggressive, advanced ovarian cancers and is found at higher levels in cancer cells which are resistant to drugs such as carboplatin and cisplatin.
Women with high levels of FGF1 are less likely to respond to these drugs and have a poorer prognosis.
Every year, about 4,000 women die in the UK from ovarian cancer.
The researchers measured quantities of various genes in 187 patients and realised that FGF1 appeared to playing the greatest role in determining how cancers behave.
They also found that FGF1 activity increases after ovarian cancer cells become drug resistant.
By blocking the gene in ovarian cancer cells resistant to platinum drugs, the scientists were able to make them sensitive to chemotherapy again.
Team member Dr Gillian Smith said: ”We’re excited by these results because they identify potential ways that ovarian cancer builds resistance to common chemotherapy drugs over time.
”Our study paves the way for the development of new tests to determine if chemotherapy will work and suggests that drugs targeting FGF1 could be effective new treatments for a group of women with a type of ovarian cancer that is difficult to treat successfully.”
The research was partly funded by Cancer Research UK, whose spokeswoman Dr Julie Sharp said: ”Ovarian cancer is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage where surgery is difficult and the disease has spread.
”The current approaches to treatment are limited not all women respond to chemotherapy and there is no way of telling who will benefit most. This research is a step towards addressing the urgent need to develop tests that can tell us more about each woman’s ovarian cancer and help personalise treatment to save more lives.”