Inducible Gene Model Predicts the Effects of Anti-Cancer Drugs

A recent study linked fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) to the success of chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer (PCa).

FGFR1 is commonly overexpressed in advanced prostate cancer. To establish whether this increased gene expression is the cause or the result of cancerous changes in the prostate tissue, investigators at Baylor Medical College (Houston, TX, USA) studied an inducible FGFR1 (iFGFR1) prostate mouse model.

They reported in the December 2007 issue of the journal Cancer Cell that activation of the FGFR1 gene caused the prostate tissue to gradually change from normal to cancerous. Removal of the drug that activated the gene reversed the pro-cancerous changes over a period of several weeks until the prostate gland returned to its normal appearance. However, if the gene was left active for too long, the changes in the tissue reached a point of no return resulting in the formation of an irreversible adenocarcinoma.

"Since we are manipulating the target gene itself, we can ask, what will happen if we turn it off? That recapitulates the effect of a specific drug,” said senior author Dr. David Spencer, professor of immunology at Baylor College of Medicine. "By turning the gene on and off at various time points, we can define a ‘susceptibility window' for that drug, a time in the progression of the disease when the gene would be an appropriate target.”


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