New hope as cancers' 'protection' protein is identified

Published on Sunday 14 February 2010 21:48

A SECRET weapon used by cancers to survive chemotherapy has been uncovered by UK scientists.

Their findings could help make cancer treatments much more effective, experts believe.

A team from the Cancer Research UK charity unravelled the structure of a protein at the heart of the tumour defence system.

FANCL helps cancer cells repair the DNA damage inflicted by many chemotherapy drugs.

Study leader Dr Helen Walden, based at Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute, said: "Our team has determined the structure of the engine in the cell's maintenance pack that if switched off would make cells much more responsive to chemotherapy.

"We have taken the first full atomic snapshot of a protein in this cell repair pathway, right at the very heart of the route by which cancer cells defend themselves against treatments which are intended to destroy them.

"By blocking this repair 'ignition switch', it may be possible to boost traditional treatments. As such, it's a drug target."

FANCL is a key component in a cell signalling system known as the "Fanconi Anaemia pathway" which was not properly understood until now.

Genetic faults affecting the pathway can lead to FanconiAnaemia, an inherited disorder associated with skeletal abnormalities, short stature and a wide variety of cancers.

But the new research, published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, suggests that careful targeting of FANCL might help to fight cancer.

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said: "This is important research which gets right to the heart of a tactic that cancer cells use to shield themselves from chemotherapy.

"These findings give us a promising target for potential drugs to 'soften up' cancer cells as chemotherapy is delivered – to make it as effective as possible."