A study by Mumbai-based researchers has successfully identified a novel fusion transcript in head and neck cancer patients. Not only did the researchers find the fusion transcript to be a promising therapeutic target for head and neck cancer but also found that an FDA-approved deworming drug called pyrvinium pamoate can be a potential drug to treat such cancer. The results were published in the journal NPJ Precision Oncology.
Fusion transcript arises when small segments of two chromosomes exchange their positions leading to structural rearrangement of the chromosomes. For instance, a translocation involving chromosomes 6 and 18 will result in chromosome 6 having a small segment of chromosome 18, while chromosome 18 will have a small segment of chromosome 6. As a result of the segment exchange between two chromosomes, two different genes are brought together at the point where the segments meet leading to the emergence of a chimeric gene or fusion transcript. In this case, researchers from the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research, and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Mumbai were able to identify the fusion transcript (UBE3C-LRP5) as well as map the translocation event to single-base resolution. The translocation event involves chromosome 11 and 7.
The team led by Dr. Amit Dutt, who is currently a Professor at the Department of Genetics at the University of Delhi South Campus, screened 151 oral cancer patients from India using whole transcriptome sequencing and RT-PCR analysis and found 5.3% of patients were positive for the fusion transcript. The team also found the fusion transcript in 1.2% of Caucasian patients; samples of 502 Caucasian patients from the Cancer Atlas were studied. Oral cancer is the most predominant form of cancer among Indian patients with about 2,00,000 new cases being reported every year. “Of them, nearly 10,000-11,000 patients each year may be harbouring the particular fusion transcript (UBE3C-LRP5),” says Dr. Sudhir Nair, an oral cancer surgeon at ACTREC and a co author of the paper. “This prevalence suggests a potentially critical role for the UBE3C-LRP5 fusion in head and neck cancer development, marking a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the disease.”
