EphA2 to Drive Resistance against BRAF Inhibitors in Melanoma Patients

Release Date: 26-Nov-2020

Researchers have pointed that a targeted therapy that uses BRAF-MEK inhibitors could be used as an effective treatment for the patients who are suffering from advanced melanoma. Somehow large number of patients are prone to develop resistance against the therapy which could often lead to the metastasis of the cancer cells. Therefore, researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center are focused towards developing a combination therapy that could overcome the chances of developing resistance.

Researchers inclined in the respective study have identified an erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular receptor A2 which acts as a driver of metastasis and BRAF-MEK inhibitor resistance in the melanoma patients. As per the research conducted, EphA2 is a tyrosine kinase receptor molecule that is used to maintain stable environment in the healthy cells, but the overexpression of EphA2 is estimated to play a critical role in the development of the cancer. The researchers involved in the respective study are focused towards evaluating the noncanonical pathway of EphA2 using mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics method. They found that EphA2 was inducing amoeboid phenotype that enhances metastatic potential.

The main role of the amoeboid phenotype is to protect the melanoma cells from blood stream and stress and allows the cells to enter other parts of the body. The same clinical research study was confirmed by conducting trials on mouse model having melanoma cells transduced with EphA2-S897E. It was concluded by the researchers that their respective study was able to better know about the drivers that are associated with the resistance developed against BRAF and BRAF-MEK inhibitor therapy. In addition, the whole clinical research study could be effectively used as a treatment regimen in the future years.