New approach for the development of cancer therapies

In a recent study, researchers from Joanna Loizou's group from CeMM, the Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Medical University of Vienna investigated the POL? enzyme and the role it plays in DNA repair. Inhibiting POL? represents a new approach for developing specific therapies, in particular for patients with BRCA1 mutations. The study, published in Cell Reports, shows for the first time that POL? fills the gaps in single-stranded DNA that excessively occur in a BRCA1-deficient genetic background thus demonstrating its important role in keeping BRCA1 deficient cells alive. A key gene that is faulty leading to breast and ovarian cancer is BRCA1 (BReast CAncer Gene 1), that plays an important role in the body's DNA repair mechanisms. BRCA1, once mutated, can cause cancer to develop. According to the Center for Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer at the Vienna General Hospital, it is believed that if the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene is mutated, the likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancer increases to 85% and 53% respectively. While mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 support uncontrolled cell growth, these mutations also lead to the destabilization of genetic material in the cell.