WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Researchers hope that a newly identified
protein can one day help improve treatment for lung cancer. The
findings are reported today by researchers from Wake Forest
University School of Medicine and colleagues in the Journal of
the National Cancer Institute. "Lung cancer is the leading cause
of cancer death for both men and women in the United States and
more effective treatment strategies are desperately needed,"
said William J. Petty, M.D., from Wake Forest. "We believe we've
uncovered why lung cancer is currently resistant to treatment
with natural and synthetic derivatives of vitamin A, drugs that
are highly effective for preventing and treating other types of
cancer." Using cell models, Petty and colleagues from Dartmouth
Medical School set out to determine how resistance to this class
of drugs, known as retinoids, occurs. In the process of the
investigation, the researchers uncovered a protein, called
RARÔ1, that is critical for response to retinoid treatment.
Proteins are the pro