A new class of anti-cancer drugs called CDK-inhibitors has recently entered the international market and PHARMAC funds these drugs for specific breast cancer treatments in Aotearoa New Zealand. These novel compounds are highly efficient and greatly expand our ability to treat this deadly disease. Nevertheless, only about one third of patients respond positively to this drug treatment and unfortunately, there is no predictive measure of which patients will benefit. The drug is highly successful because it replaces a natural protein called p16, that is often modified in cancers.

We recently discovered that this protein can form amyloid-like structures, similar to those frequently found in neurodegenerative diseases. We found that p16 is no longer active when in the amyloid state but current clinical tests can not distinguish the functional protein from the inactive amyloid state. In this project, we will screen for the presence of this inactive amyloid state in a range of breast cancer samples. Knowledge about the p16 protein state will likely provide a long-sought predictor for CDK-inhibitor treatment success and this study may pave the way for a simple predictive method. This could improve successful application of the drug and lead to the application of these novel drugs in other cancers.

FIRST NAMED INVESTIGATOR: Dr Christoph Goebl
HOST INVESTIGATOR: Pathology and Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago