FIRST NAMED INVESTIGATOR: Dr Christoph Goebl
HOST INVESTIGATOR: Pathology and Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago

Problem
A new type of anti-cancer drug called CDK-inhibitors has become available and is funded in New Zealand for certain breast cancer patients. These drugs are powerful, but only one-third of patients actually respond to them. Right now, there is no way to know which patients will benefit from this treatment.

Project
We found that a protein called p16, which CDK-inhibitors replace, can turn into an inactive form similar to structures seen in some brain diseases. Current medical tests can't tell the difference between the active and inactive forms of p16. In this project, we will test breast cancer samples for the inactive form of p16 to see if it potentially predicts treatment success.

Outcome
If we can reliably identify this inactive form of p16, it could help us predict which patients will respond well to CDK-inhibitors, allowing for more effective treatment.

Future
This work could lead to a simple test to determine if patients will benefit from CDK-inhibitors and could eventually help expand the use of these drugs for other types of cancer.