In what could prove to be a major breakthrough in treating lung
cancer patients, a group of American and Australian researchers
have discovered what makes the cancer return in people who have
initially responded well to chemotherapy. The five year survival
rate among patients suffering from small cell lung cancer is
just five percent. Though the patients initially respond well to
chemotherapy, with the cancer going into remission, it quickly
grows back and leads to the death of the patient. Until now,
scientists were unable to find out why the cancer came back.
However researchers from Monash University in Melbourne found
out that they can stop the cancer cells from relapsing by
blocking a type of protein, known as a hedgehog. The study has
been published in the journal Nature Medicine. "What we found
was that the hedgehog is very important when the cells are
depleted down to a tiny population and are asked to regenerate
the tumour. If you use drug that blocks the hedgehog signalling
(for the cancer cells to