Study: Some Colon Cancer Patients More Likely to Benefit From Chemotherapy

A gene that may protect against colorectal cancer also appears to greatly improve outcomes in bowel cancer patients following chemotherapy, according to a report in the British Journal of Cancer.

Researchers at the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland reported that patients with bowel cancer were three times more likely to benefit from chemotherapy if their tumours tested positive for the SMAD4 gene.

"Many people with bowel cancer fail to respond to chemotherapy because their tumours have developed resistance against the treatment," said Dr. Jean-Louis Boulay. "Our findings may provide a clue to the genetic basis of the resistance, since tumours with the SMAD4 gene seem more responsive to chemotherapy than those in which the gene is lost."

"Testing people for the gene at the time of diagnosis could
help doctors to take the right decisions about which treatments to use, improving survival while sparing some patients from drugs which will not do them any good," Boulay added.

Other Sources: British Journal of Cancer