New insight into PTEN’s role in cancers

“This defines a new working model for the function and regulation of PTEN and tells us that PTEN mutational status can be used to determine which cancer patients might benefit from earlier and more radical therapeutic interventions and, ultimately, better prognosis,” Dr Pandolfi said.

“Our findings may help to better identify and stratify patients and their response to treatment based on the different genetic alterations found in the PTEN gene. Importantly, our study shows that cancer therapy should be tailored on the basis of the very specific type of mutations that the tumor harbors.”

“This adds a new layer of complexity but also a new opportunity for precision medicine. I would say that, based on these thorough genetic analyses, this story represents the ultimate example of why personalized cancer medicine is so urgently needed.”