Enzyme Drives Treatment Resistance in Ovarian Cancer
By
Olivia Dimmer
May 1, 2025
Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified a key driver of chemotherapy resistance in advanced ovarian cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Although treatments have improved greatly in recent decades, a large subset of patients experience cancer recurrence and develop chemotherapy resistance, said Mazhar Adli, PhD, the Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Tumor Genomics and an assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Reproductive Science in Medicine, who was senior author of the study.
“Chemotherapy resistance is the biggest clinical challenge for physicians to treat this type of cancer,” Adli said. “Initially, it’s very sensitive, but quickly it becomes chemoresistant. We need to figure out how the cells become chemoresistant, why they’re becoming chemoresistant and what kind of molecular mechanisms are enabling these cells to survive under harsh chemo treatments.”
Previous research from the Adli laboratory showed an abundance of PRMT5 — an enzyme known for its role in regulating gene expression — in chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer. In the current study, Adli and his collaborators employed intracellular immunostaining and CRISPR screening to better understand PRMT5’s role.
https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2025/05/01/enzyme-drives-treatment-resistance-in-ovarian-cancer/
Good news for a change.
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