A ‘worker’ protein called Smyd3, an accomplice of cancer because it flanks diseased cells by adjusting their genome, is a target to hit to fight the resistance of colorectal cancer to chemotherapy. By inhibiting it, it is possible to increase the effectiveness of treatments. This is the path indicated by a research project conducted at the IRCCS ‘Saverio de Bellis’ in Castellana Grotte (Bari), specialized in gastroenterology. The study, which lasted 5 years and was led by the geneticist of the University of Bari Cristiano Simone, was funded by the Airc Foundation for cancer research. The results were published in the ‘Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research’.
It is known that chemotherapy, still one of the most effective treatments for cancer patients – they recall from the Apulian institute – acts by damaging the DNA of both tumor cells and healthy cells, causing their death. However, the tumor can develop resistance to chemotherapy, just like bacteria do to antibiotics, and this causes most relapses. This happens because our cells have a DNA repair system that allows them to stay healthy, but unfortunately it is also exploited by tumor cells to defend themselves from the action of chemotherapy. The Smyd3 protein is part of this system.
“Smyd3 is a worker protein involved in DNA repair in cancer cells – explains Simone – We recently demonstrated that the use of a new Smyd3 inhibitor increases the efficacy of chemotherapy, and that in the tissues of patients with gastrointestinal neoplasms Smyd3 is strongly expressed. Our study identifies Smyd3 as a therapeutic target in tumors in which it is overexpressed, allowing us to specifically eliminate cancer cells and spare healthy ones. This therapeutic approach would represent a winning weapon not only to avoid resistance to chemotherapy, but also to reduce doses, limiting both side effects and costs”.
“This is the winning result of a multidisciplinary study”, declares the scientific director of the IRCCS de Bellis, Gianluigi Giannelli, who highlights how “researchers, surgeons, oncologists, pathologists worked as a team just like in all the large international research centers”.
There is more: “The Smyd3 inhibitor – a note reports – has already been scientifically validated at the Irccs de Bellis and patented in Italy and is in the process of being approved at an international level. The technological transfer, strongly pursued by the scientific direction, represents a strong point of the research of the Apulian institute, also offering opportunities for the development of territorial entrepreneurship”.
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