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Why do different types of chemotherapies work on some cancers, but not others?
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Expert Answers
CancerQuest (Organization (Verified) ) - 06 / 05 / 2012
There are several reasons for this.
1. Although all cancers share a similar feature, cells that reproduce in an unregulated way, the defects that cause this can be different. Just like mechanics need to use different tools to fix different problems in a car, the drugs used to treat one cancer may not address the problem in a different cancer. This is especially true with targeted treatments, like the kinase inhibitors (Gleevec, Iressa, and many others). These drugs attack a very small set of proteins. If those proteins are not the problem in a particular cancer, the drugs will not be of help.
2. Different cells types have different jobs. Liver cells do 'liver' things (break down chemicals, store sugar, etc.) and colon cells do 'colon' things (secrete lubricant, take up nutrients). To do this, the different cells rely on different sets of tools (genes). The drugs used to treat the cancers are those that can best interfere with the activity of that particular type of cell.
3. Even though all cells need to do similar things to live, they seem to have different ways of doing it. All people need to eat to survive but different people rely on different foods to get by. Similarly, cells can rely on different sets of genes (tools) to survive. Drugs that target one set of tools will not stop a cell that is not using those.
4. Some cell types are more likely to take in a particular drug than others. If a drug can't get into a cancer cell, it will be unlikely to help.
There is still much to be learned in this area. Many of the chemotherapy drugs are designed to prevent cell division, a process ALL cancer cells have in common. Researchers are still working to find out why some work and other do not for any given cancer type.
Learn more about chemotherapy:http://www.cancerquest.org/chemotherapy-introduction.html
1. Although all cancers share a similar feature, cells that reproduce in an unregulated way, the defects that cause this can be different. Just like mechanics need to use different tools to fix different problems in a car, the drugs used to treat one cancer may not address the problem in a different cancer. This is especially true with targeted treatments, like the kinase inhibitors (Gleevec, Iressa, and many others). These drugs attack a very small set of proteins. If those proteins are not the problem in a particular cancer, the drugs will not be of help.
2. Different cells types have different jobs. Liver cells do 'liver' things (break down chemicals, store sugar, etc.) and colon cells do 'colon' things (secrete lubricant, take up nutrients). To do this, the different cells rely on different sets of tools (genes). The drugs used to treat the cancers are those that can best interfere with the activity of that particular type of cell.
3. Even though all cells need to do similar things to live, they seem to have different ways of doing it. All people need to eat to survive but different people rely on different foods to get by. Similarly, cells can rely on different sets of genes (tools) to survive. Drugs that target one set of tools will not stop a cell that is not using those.
4. Some cell types are more likely to take in a particular drug than others. If a drug can't get into a cancer cell, it will be unlikely to help.
There is still much to be learned in this area. Many of the chemotherapy drugs are designed to prevent cell division, a process ALL cancer cells have in common. Researchers are still working to find out why some work and other do not for any given cancer type.
Learn more about chemotherapy:http://www.cancerquest.org/chemotherapy-introduction.html
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