AACR 2022 | LIG1 deletion predicts chemotherapy resistance in triple-negative breast cancer

Meenakshi Anurag, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, discusses a proteogenomic study on patient tumors derived from two independent clinical trials (NCT201404107, NCT02544987) where patients with triple-negative breast cancer were treated with a combination of carboplatin and docetaxel. This proteogenomic study revealed evidence for the loss of proteins or genes at the chromosomal location 19q13.3. Further investigation demonstrated that the most significant association with resistance to chemotherapy was seen for a gene called LIG1, which is a DNA ligase. Data from pre-clinical models showed that this associates more with carboplatin response than docetaxel response. Hence, a patient’s LIG1 status would help understand whether a patient would benefit from the addition of carboplatin. This interview took place at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.