A new trial involving platinum-based chemotherapies could be the first step to developing personalised cancer treatment, the Associated Press reports.

British researchers from Loughborough University are set to conduct a series of tests to ascertain how different patients are likely to respond to the same set of drugs.

Treatments used in 65 per cent of oncology clinic patients involve platinum particles attaching to DNA in tumour cells and preventing them from growing and multiplying.

The team of scientists will explore DNA in blood samples from treated patients and assess whether the drugs are completing the necessary biological tasks in each one.

Study leader Dr Barry Sharp, from the Centre for Analytical Science at the university, explained that the ultimate aim is to predict patient responses based on their DNA.

"The techniques we've been developing enable us to measure the amount of platinum binding to the patient's DNA," he told the British Science Festival.

"That's only become possible in the last few years. The hypothesis is the more binding to DNA you get, the more the drug will work. This trial is looking at whether that's correct."

Dr Sharp added that the year-long trial was motivated by the fact that "it's surprising what we don't know" about platinum-based drugs, considering they have been around for "a long while".

One platinum complex, cisplatin, has improved the cure rate of treating testicular cancer from ten per cent to about 85 per cent.

Source:

Tailored cancer treatment trial (09/09/09)

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