The Faculty of Medicine researchers discover how tumors become resistant to drugs, and how process can be reversed to inhibit cancer growth

​Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Medicine have discovered a process whereby tumor cells become resistant to specific drugs, a finding that could significantly influence how anti-cancer drugs are administered and the development of a means for reversing the proliferation of malignant tumor growth.  Cancer has become one of the major challenges of biomedical research in the past decades, and is one of the leading causes of illness and death all over the world. While many drugs have been developed against cancer, doctors do not know in advance of treatment whether a patient might benefit from a particular drug. Thus, being able to identify in laboratory testing whether a patient’s tumor is either resistant or sensitive to a specific drug is crucial to enabling the rapidly developing field of ""personalized medicine."" In a study published in the journal Cell Reports, conducted by Hebrew University graduate student Avi Maimon under the supervision ofDr. Rotem Karni of theInstitute for Medical Research Israel-Canada at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Medicine, researchers found that breast, lung and colon cancer cells change the structure of an enzyme called Mnk2, which is involved in the transmission of information from the environment/body into the cell.