South Korean researchers have found a way to maximize cancer cells’ response to anticancer drugs.
 
A team led by Professor Kim Yoo-sun at Ajou University found that receptor-interacting protein kinase-3, or RIP3, is an essential part of the cellular machinery that executes "programmed" or "regulated" necrosis, but its expression is often silenced in cancer cells.
 
The team said that treatment with hypomethylating agents restores RIP3 expression, and thereby promotes sensitivity to chemotherapeutics.
 
The researchers said that RIP3-deficient cancer patients may benefit from receiving hypomethylating agents to induce RIP3 expression prior to treatment with conventional chemotherapeutics.
 
They expect their findings will help scientists develop effective cancer drugs.
 
The findings appeared in the May 8 edition of Cell Research.