NRG1 meets resistance

Researchers at Roche's Genentech Inc. unit have shown that the receptor tyrosine kinase ligand neuregulin 1 can drive resistance to chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancers. Although the precise mechanism is being worked out, countering resistance by hitting neuregulin 1 or its receptors in conjunction with conventional chemotherapy could prevent chemo resistance.¹

Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is an autocrine signaling factor that normally promotes survival and differentiation in developing tissues. The protein acts on several receptors, including epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (EGFR3; HER3; ErbB3) and HER4 (EGFR4; ErbB4), and recently has turned up as a marker of EGFR inhibitor resistance in several tumor types.²...