Cisplatin works by damaging the DNA in dividing cells, thus killing any rapidly dividing tumor cells. Yet, all cells make enzymes that protect against exactly this kind of genetic damage. In theory, patients with naturally high levels of the protective enzyme will not respond to cisplatin as readily as patients with lower levels of the enzyme, Garcia explains. Eventually, doctors may be able to measure an individual patient's level of the protective enzyme, using this as a marker to guide treatment. In a separate study, another potential marker is the target.
Cells make a small molecule called tubulin that is critical to cell division and movement.
But there is a huge amount of natural variation among patients in the form of tubulin they make, a factor that also may influence the outcome of treatment. Garcia attended college and medical school at Mexico City's Universidad Anahuac before completing an internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Garcia focused his interest in gynecologic malignancies during a one-year training program at the University of Mississippi. At Norris, you have the option to do research and take care of patients. Considering the treasure-trove of discoveries in cancer made in just the last decades, Garcia thinks right now is an exciting time for oncologists.