Researchers at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra (Spain) have identified a critical gene, FOSL1, in the development of lung and pancreatic cancer. The results of the work, a collaboration with researchers in the USA, UK, Germany and Denmark, have been published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications.
Approximately 25% of patients with lung cancer and 90% of those with pancreatic cancer show mutations in the KRAS gene, the most commonly mutated oncogene in cancer, and, at present, there are no effective therapies for these patients.
Using an innovative bioinformatic application (which analyzes many series of samples from patients with different types of cancer) the CIMA researchers have identified a core of 8 genes regulated by the KRAS oncogene. From these genes, the researchers focused on FOSL1 because they found that in lung and pancreatic cancer, “patients with high-level mutations of the gene we have identified had the worst survival prognosis”, explained Dr. Silve Vicent, a researcher on the CIMA Solid Tumors and Biomarkers Program and head of this research. “What is most important is that inhibition of FOSL1 brings about a great reduction in the size of the tumors in the lungs and pancreas. Thus, the results present this gene as a new molecular target to which new drugs should be directed”, the researcher added.
