Cancer study discovers way to rewind chemo resistance

Researchers have found a way to reset chemotherapy resistance for ovarian cancer.

- James Tapper

Researchers have found a way to reset chemotherapy resistance for ovarian cancer.

Biochemists and clinicians at Imperial College London used genetic techniques to map how strands of human DNA form knot-like structures. The knots are exploited by ovarian cancer cells and, by blocking the knots in laboratory conditions, the researchers saw a near sixfold reduction in chemotherapy resistance.

Chemotherapy is one of the most important ways to treat cancer, but the disease adapts and can become resistant to drugs.

Marco Di Antonio, an associate professor in molecular sciences at Imperial's department of chemistry, said the study, published in Genome Biology, was the first time anyone had used this approach against chemotherapy resistance.