BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

Caveat inhibitor

Tumor adaptations to PI3K pathway inhibitors may require combination therapies

August 6, 2015 7:00 AM UTC

Two studies have shown that metabolic adaptations can allow some cancer cells to thrive in response to therapies that inhibit the PI3K pathway. The results could explain the poor clinical performance of the inhibitors, but might also open the door to rescuing or reviving the compounds by combining them with a molecule that blocks the cells' ability to adapt.

"What has been perhaps underestimated is that tumors adapt," said Dario Altieri, principal investigator of one study. "And unfortunately, attached to the adaptation phase is the acquisition of traits that make them more aggressive." Altieri is president, CEO and director of the Wistar Institute Cancer Center...