Gene blocking drug 'could beat cancer'

Researchers at Oxford University believe drugs that block the POLQ gene will make cancer survival increasingly likely.

In a study carried out by the researchers, the team looked at data of 279 patients diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1980s. It was found that an excessive amount of the POLQ gene dramatically increased the likelihood of the disease returning after treatment. Patients with excessive amounts of the POLQ gene were eight times more likely to die as a result of the disease.

The results, which were published in the online medical journal Oncotarget, were confirmed alongside findings from other research carried out in the UK, Holland and Sweden.

Professor Gillies McKenna, director of the Cancer Research UK/MRC Gray Institute at Oxford University, where the research was conducted, said: “As POLQ is not switched on by most healthy tissues it is possible that if drugs could be developed to block this gene, they would make tumours more responsive to treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy but not increase the side effects caused to healthy cells.

“Drugs that block POLQ may be able to reverse the very poor survival associated with over production of this gene.”

Scientists believe the gene may cause tumours to resist radiotherapy and other treatments used to tackle early breast cancer. It may also cause tumour cells to be more aggressive.

The gene appears to have a bigger impact in women who have cancers that are not sensitive to the hormone oestrogen. They account for between a fifth and a quarter of the 45,700 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

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