Philadelphia, PA (Scicasts) - This past summer saw a revolution in melanoma therapy. Patients whose melanoma lesions contain a mutation in the BRAF gene were successfully treated with a BRAF-specific inhibitor, PLX4032. Reports of the drug trial described shrinking tumours and improved health. Yet seven months after therapy began the tumours returned and resumed growing. Now, scientists at The Wistar Institute explain why: the tumour learns to signal around the blocked gene by adjusting its molecular wiring. They also show how to overcome resistance by simultaneously targeting multiple signalling pathways.
