• UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine
U Magazine

U Magazine

U Magazine
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Centennial Campaign for UCLA Issue
  • Browse U Magazine
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine

U Magazine

Browse U Magazine

  1. Home
  2. Browse U Magazine
Share this
The Cutting Edge

Danger in Disguise: Brain-cancer Cells Can ‘Hide’ from Drugs

Researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a biological mechanism that makes brain-tumor cells drug resistant by allowing them to escape from the drugs designed to target them.

  Danger in Disguise
  MRI (top row) and PET/CT (bottom row) images from two patients with glioblastoma that clearly indicate the disease in the brain.

Glioblastoma is the most common and deadliest form of brain cancer, and the surface of its cells are marked by telltale mutations that accelerate tumor growth. The drugs currently used to find and kill glioblastoma cells target those mutations. Led by first author David Nathanson, PhD ’11, assistant professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at UCLA, and former UCLA professor Paul Mischel, MD (RES ’94, FEL ’96), now at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at UC San Diego, the researchers found that the tumor cells temporarily eliminate the gene mutation when they sense the presence of the cancer drug, essentially removing the drug’s target and allowing the tumor to become drug resistant.

The study also found that after the drug is removed, the tumor cells reacquire the gene mutation (called an oncogene) that helps the tumor cells grow more robustly and that they can repeat this cycle as often as the drug is given. That ability is what could make the cancer cells vulnerable to the original therapy: doctors may be able to use pulsative drug delivery, for example, to take better advantage of the periods when the cancer cells are sensitized to the drugs.

“Now that we know that tumor cells have the surprising capacity to lose this oncogene during treatment and then reverse the process after drug removal, we may be able to exploit this phenomenon in the clinic,” Dr. Nathanson says.

“Targeted Therapy Resistance Mediated by Dynamic Regulation of Extrachromosomal Mutant EGFR DNA,” Science, December 5, 2013


Previous
To Lower Cholesterol, You Say Tomato
Next
Context Counts for Anxious Teens, Kids


YOU ARE VIEWING

Spring 2014

Spring 2014
E-Brochure
Printable PDF
IN THIS ISSUE
  • Meeting the Future Challenge
  • Letters to the Editor
  • ‘Smart’ Mannequins Breathe Life into Medical Scenarios
  • To Lower Cholesterol, You Say Tomato
  • Danger in Disguise: Brain-cancer Cells Can ‘Hide’ from Drugs
  • Context Counts for Anxious Teens, Kids
  • Disrupted Maternal Bond Can Alter Child’s Brain
  • You Are What You Eat: Low-fat Diet with Fish Oil Changes Prostate-cancer Tissue
  • Early Imaging, Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Leads to Better Outcomes
  • U.S. Ranks Near Bottom in Efficiency of Healthcare Spending
  • Helping to Clarify Cause of Pregnancy Complications
  • Is Sexual Addiction the Real Deal?
  • Mini Med School May 5, 12 & 19
  • Cancer Care in Crisis
  • Clocked!
  • A Family Affair
  • Zinging the Blues
  • Up for a Challenge
  • Awards/Honors
  • East Meets West
  • In Her Own Words: Nisha Abdul Cader, MD ’95
  • Postcard from Vietnam
  • An Illuminating Evening
  • Mobile Clinic Project at UCLA
  • Events
  • Gifts
  • UCLA Health Board Annual Meeting Provides Inspiration
  • Letter from Erbil
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest
UCLA Health hospitals ranked best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report
  • UCLA Health
  • Find a Doctor
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • UCLA Campus
  • Directory
  • Newsroom
  • Subscribe
  • Patient Stories
  • Giving
  • Careers
  • Volunteer
  • International Services
  • Privacy Practices
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Billing
  • Health Plans
  • Emergency
  • Report Broken Links
  • Terms of Use
  • 1-310-825-2631
  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Your Feedback
  • Report Misconduct
  • Get Social
  • Sitemap
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest

Sign in to myUCLAhealth

Learn more about myUCLAhealth