Chronic stress may promote resistance to lung cancer therapy
Elevated levels
of chronic stress hormones, such as those produced by psychological distress,
may promote resistance to drugs commonly used to treat lung cancer patients
with EGFR mutations, according to new research from MD Andrerson Cancer
Center. Retrospective analysis of clinical patient data suggests that beta
blockers may slow or prevent the development of resistance to EGFR inhibitors.
The research,
published today in Science Translational Medicine used non-small cell lung
cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and mouse models to discover and validate the pathway
by which stress hormones drive resistance to these therapies, known as EGFR
tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
“It is
generally accepted that stress is not good for cancer patients, but a cancer
diagnosis as well as the necessary treatments can be quite stressful. This data
indicates that stress hormones may act directly on tumor cells and promote
resistance to therapy, Researchers had previously identified a connection
between EGFR inhibitor resistance and the immune signaling protein IL-6, which
is activated by stress hormones. Therefore, the researchers sought to
investigate stress hormone signaling as an alternative mechanism driving
resistance to EGFR targeted therapies.
No comments:
Post a Comment