“In mapping the entire genome of a tumor from a patient with advanced bladder cancer, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering have uncovered a genetic weakness that could potentially be targeted with an existing drug. Published in the journal Science on August 21, the findings could lead to new and potent therapies for a subset of patients with the disease.
In addition, the investigators hope that their study might encourage more research on cases in which a cancer drug is shown to work in a small number of patients but further investigation has not been pursued because the treatment was found to be ineffective in the majority of patients.
The findings were made after an early-stage clinical trial in which Memorial Sloan-Kettering physicians treated advanced bladder cancer patients with everolimus (Afinitor®), a targeted therapy already used in the treatment of kidney cancer, among other cancer types. While the drug did not help the vast majority of patients enrolled in the trial, the doctors were encouraged by the outcome of one patient – a 73-year-old woman – whose condition radically improved.
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