Iressa, an effective but too selective drug

2004/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

The surprise is due to a new medicine to treat lung tumors. Iressa is a very effective medicine to reduce tumors, but it only affects 10% of patients. Now, Boston scientists have understood why that happens.

Affected patients have a mutation in a receptor of a growth factor, that is, a protein that detects a molecule that allows cell growth. The mutation does not mean that tumor growth is interrupted, but helps the tumor. But, on the other hand, this same mutation facilitates the action of the drug Iressa. Therefore, it helps not only the tumor but also the medicine.

This, of course, is bad news for the company that wants to sell the drug, since the drug is not valid for all patients with lung cancer and therefore will not spend 2,000 dollars a month, but it is good news for researchers, because in other types of tumors there may be similar mutations.